A vile act has prompted almost no debate at all about radical Islam and its threat to the values of the West, writes David Quinn Almost all societies have a concept of ‘blasphemy’, which broadly speaking means to mock the most deeply held beliefs and values of a society. Historically speaking, those beliefs and values…

Despite Ireland rising in the human trafficking watchlist, we have a lot to do, Ruadhán Jones hears This year, for the first time since 2017, Ireland has risen in the annual Trafficking in Persons report’s ranking, from Tier 2 Watchlist to Tier 2. And yet, the report, conducted by the State Department in the US,…

The characters of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul inhabit a universe that Catholics will already be familiar with, writes Jason Osborne My wife and I have been hooked in recent months by legal drama and crime series Better Call Saul as we raced to catch up in time for its ending this week. Just…

By now, Pope Francis has denied that he’s on the brink of resigning so often that it’s virtually become part of his verbal “Greatest Hits” collection, akin to his rhetoric on the evils of clericalism or the dignity of migrants. Although he’s 85 and suffering from acute pain in the right knee related to osteoarthritis,…

Pope Francis’ plans to visit the central Italian city of L’Aquila and its basilica August 28 fuelled speculation of a possible announcement of his resignation, which he has firmly denied. L’Aquila’s basilica is the burial place of St Celestine V, who issued a decree declaring the right of a pope to voluntarily resign, and then…

I was mobbed in the churchyard after Mass on the August bank holiday. We had just celebrated the Sacrament of the Sick during Mass, and there was just one question on everyone’s lips: “Would this be the last such Mass in Newcestown?” When I arrived in the parish in 2012, a lovely tradition was handed…

Shannon Campbell The View People think that when a university breaks for summer, work stops and staff enjoy an (excessively) long holiday. Perhaps for some, but the vast majority of academics and support staff are on campus, reviewing the year that has past, and preparing for a new intake of students in autumn. The same…

I attended a funeral last week, which is not, in itself, an unusual event among my demographic. But this funeral was an illumination, for me, of the redemptive powers that are in our midst. She remembered him being great fun, telling her bedtime stories, singing Irish ballads and Wagnerian opera” The deceased was Heather Iandolo, aged…