During this month of November, we will have memorial Masses in many parishes across Ireland. In my experience these can be very moving occasions as the name of each person who died during the last year is called out and a family member comes forward to light a candle in memory of a parent, a…
Elon Musk, allegedly the richest person in the world, sometimes seems a stereotype of the eccentric billionaire. He is an extraordinary innovator in areas from neurotechnology to futuristic engineering: he has controversial views about Covid-19, thinks that Artificial Intelligence is the greatest threat to the human race, and believes we should colonise Mars. He marries…
Catholic schools’ bodies welcome developments in SPHE course, but warn it ignores ethos, writes Ruadhán Jones The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA) draft SPHE curriculum for Junior Cycle has been criticised by Catholic bodies for “ignoring” schools’ rights to govern their own ethos, although they welcome developments in other areas. The Association of…
It is not at all clear where this whole synodal process is going to end up, writes David Quinn The Vatican has just issued a new synodal working document that is now to be studied at a continental level by the Church in the coming months. This new document is a synthesis of the papers…
The war in Ukraine has seen questions asked of the Irish policy of military neutrality, writes Jason Osborne The war in Ukraine has seen the topic of Ireland’s military neutrality discussed with more vigour than perhaps any other time in recent history, with some arguing that the war in Ukraine has shown the need for…
by Dennis Sadowski Universities around the world are taking steps alongside major technology companies to explore ways to bolster ethics education in the artificial intelligence field in line with an initiative supported by the Vatican. The effort seeks to help those already working or aspiring to work in the tech fields understand that the development…
by Barbara Fraser The Church in Latin America and the Caribbean is called to be a missionary Church that heeds the cry of the poor and excluded; a synodal Church where women, young people and laypeople have greater roles; and a Church that is evangelised even as it evangelises, according to the final document of…
There’s only one addiction for which we are praised – overworking. With every other addiction, concerned others are looking to put you into a clinic or into a recovery programme, but if your addiction is work, generally it’s seen as virtue. I know of what I speak. I’m a “recovering workaholic”, and not exactly in…
Dear Editor, The Government is considering plans to extend exclusion zones to any place that might putatively be providing “termination of pregnancy services” and not only those already doing so. The term itself is broad enough to cover everything from an actual abortion clinic all the way down to any local pharmacy that might be…
by Fr John Harris OP Notebook The recent tragic events in the village of Creeslough, Co. Donegal reminded me of a journey from a funeral I attended with two friends a long number of years ago in Donegal. We had attended the funeral of a nephew of a mutual friend and were returning to Dublin.…
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser