Fr Conor McDonough OP As Catholics we all surely felt our faith was disrespected last month when the comedian David Chambers (‘Blindboy Boatclub’) described the Eucharist as ‘haunted bread’ on The Late Late Show. The celebration of the Eucharist is the raison d’être of the priesthood, so as a newly-ordained priest I felt particularly keenly…

There’s an axiom which says: Nothing feels better than virtue. There’s a deep truth here, but it has an underside. When we do good things, we feel good about ourselves. Virtue is indeed its own reward, and that’s good. However, feeling righteous can soon enough turn into feeling self-righteous. Nothing feels better than virtue; but…

“There are burdens that we all carry, some are very obvious and others we take great care to hide…The invitation of Jesus on the cross is to hand over these burdens to him”, writes Fr Martin Delaney A Jesuit friend shared with me his experience of ministering in a detention centre in Malta some years…

“marriage certainly needs ongoing support, and it often seems to need more preparation”, writes Mary Kenny In a season when there is much focus on weddings – spring brings us the ‘wedding fayres’ at which the Big Day is so lavishly marketed – it’s surely apt for Pope Francis to focus on marriage preparation, rather…

Greg Daly considers some aspects of Cardinal Connell’s handling of the abuse crisis “He was criticised at times for being less than diplomatic,” said Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in his homily during the funeral Mass for his predecessor Cardinal Desmond Connell, “just as I am criticised for being over diplomatic.” It will have been an…

We might fault Desmond Connell for his methods, but we cannot fault his sense of duty, writes David Quinn Commentary on the death of Cardinal Desmond Connell has been dominated, understandably, by the abuse scandals that came to light during his time as Archbishop of Dublin. Who Des Connell was got lost in the commentary.…

Neutrality in Ireland is a morally charged concept, both for supporters and critics. For supporters, it is a principled stance to avoid becoming embroiled in armed conflict and military alliances and to support the peaceful resolution of disputes. For critics, it is an evasion of responsibility and taking a free ride behind serious defence measures…

Our attitude towards the disabled is something we must seriously consider as we debate abortion, writes David Quinn One of the issues that has given rise to the very strong possibility of an abortion referendum in the next year or two is that of unborn babies diagnosed with a life-limiting disability, also known as a…