Cardinal Pell’s 400 days in tough prisons in solitary can be seen as the best thing that happened to him, writes Fr Brendan Purcell When I was a philosophy lecturer at University College Dublin, our staff Newman group wanted to invite some notable figure or other to give a talk in the millennium year. We…
Building open and welcoming faith communities is seen as key to a vibrant future, writes Michael Kelly Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has asked people across the 51 parishes to put their shoulder to the wheel and embrace the mission of renewal of the local Church. At the weekend, Bishop McKeown published a pastoral letter…
Cindy Wooden Pope Francis praised the late Australian Cardinal George Pell as a faithful servant of God and of the Catholic Church, who steadfastly followed the Lord even “in the hour of trial” when he was jailed for sexual abuse before his conviction was overturned by Australia’s highest court. Cardinal Pell died in Rome January…
Dear Editor, Without a doubt, a number of Irish politicians are continuously stoking up hatred for the Church in their poisonous, insidious speeches in the Dáil. Thank you for highlighting this [The Irish Catholic – January 12, 2023] and to the TDs who call it out. Not a day goes by when there isn’t another…
In the last 30 years I have worked in seven different parishes. They were a mixture of city, small town, and rural communities. The one thing they all have in common is the very strong presence of the GAA. The GAA is based on parish structures and the greatest strength of the organisation is that…
It would have been hard to avoid media coverage of Prince Harry’s all-too-revealing autobiography, Spare, out this week. Aside from the un-sparing details from his private life, there is serious official concern at his apparent boast that he killed 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. British security sources are dismayed that he may have made himself,…
Pope Francis seems to have a remarkable ability to drop people who were once senior aides, writes John L. Allen Jr In the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, Dickie Greenleaf is a charismatic and rich young socialite who’s in the habit of drawing people into his orbit and…
Catholic schools must be allowed to admit on the basis of religion, writes David Quinn From time to time, articles appear in newspapers using the extremely loaded term ‘Baptism barrier’. It refers to a policy, now outlawed, which allowed Catholic schools to admit Catholic children ahead of other children in the event of over-enrolment. All…
Dear Friends of The Irish Catholic, The poet Patrick Kavanagh wrote in his poem Advent, “And Christ comes with a January flower”. The miracle of Christmas is extended into the New Year, where we discover the new life in Christ in the vulnerability of a tiny snowdrop that defies the dark nights and cold weather.…
Michael Heinlein Since Pope Benedict’s death at age 95 on December 31, much ink has already been spilled detailing both his accomplishments and failures throughout his long life of service to the Church. In the end, though, all the coverage boils down to one question: ‘Who was the real Pope Benedict XVI?’ While it will…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
John L. Allen Jr.
David Quinn