We are witnessing an irrational demand for the endless purging of sin from the body politic, writes Kingsley Jones If you are reading this then you are concerned about ‘wokism’, about the fact that the tone of our political and social disagreements is growing ever more strident, that we seem to be on the verge…
Category: Opinion
The new National Maternity Hospital: A principled fight or a phony war?
Political parties determined to promote their ‘progressive credentials’ are intent on stoking fears of an imaginary Catholic threat to their vision of a secular Ireland, writes David Mullins From 2012 to 2017 the decision to relocate the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street to a site on the Elm Park campus of St Vincent’s Hospital…
Human-monkey embryos point towards a dark horizon
Chimeras are moving out of the stories and into the world with the latest scientific advances but they appear no less monstrous, writes Jason Osborne Chimeras once stalked the landscape of legend and myth. In Greek mythology they were one of the more famous kinds of monster, composed of the parts of more than one…
Taking a ‘wait and see’ stance on Pope’s latest blow for accountability
Letter from Rome Perhaps no one was as startled this week when a 46-year-old woman was placed under house arrest for aggravated theft from a small church in the far southern Italian province of Reggio Calabria as the woman herself. Her name hasn’t been released by Italy’s military police, who made the arrest, but they…
Latin America launches continent-wide assembly
As the Catholic Church in different countries begins various synodal processes, the conference of Latin American bishops could not stay behind, and has launched its own Ecclesial Assembly. Pastoral plan “Did you know that our Latin American Church is calling together the 377 million Catholics in 46 countries of the continent to discern a joint…
The eyes of love
Imagine a young couple intoxicated with each other in the early stages of love. Imagine a religious neophyte in love with God, praying ecstatically. Imagine an idealistic young person working tirelessly with the poor, enflamed with a thirst for justice. Are this young couple really in love with each other? Is that religious neophyte really…
Celebrating the togetherness of public Mass as we rebuild
Notebook As our parishes prepare again for the return to public worship, albeit in a limited format, we are thankful for this progress and the opportunity it affords us to gather as communities of faith. Truly we will celebrate that togetherness and rebuild, week by week, on the strong foundation that remains at the heart…
People must not accept the denial of their religious rights
Dear Editor, Michael Kelly’s call for ‘a more robust approach’ to the Government [IC 22/04/2021] regarding the criminalising of Church services is certainly welcome. As all diplomatic approaches have been ignored, I think one solution could be for the bishops to tell their priests to no longer close the church doors while Mass is going on…
Return to Mass welcome, but legal situation remains murky
Mercifully, public worship will return in the Republic next week. From May 10, Catholics will be able to attend Mass without fear of prosecution. Priests will be able to leave their homes to celebrate Mass without the fear of up to six months in prison. It will be a relief for us to get back…
A brilliant education in life issues
Truly, one of the great achievements of modern medicine is the treatment of babies in the womb. An unborn baby with a tumour on her lung – spotted by a routine ultrasound scan at 19 weeks – can now have corrective laser treatment surgery which saves her life. Prof. Basky’s work is a testament to…




John L. Allen Jr.

Fr Ronald Rolheiser


Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny