At some point in the next 20 or so years, there will be more deaths than births in Ireland, and from there, things are only going to get much worse. There is one big reason for this; we are no longer having enough babies. We have transformed in very little time from a country famous…
Sometimes I wonder about Rome. Not Rome as a tourist destination, which is a venue unsurpassed. With apologies to Samuel Johnson, when a person is tired of Rome, that man or woman is tired of life. I don’t deny Rome’s importance as a goal for pilgrims either, though no doubt in this Holy Year some…
Dear Editor, Many thanks for opening a debate about the ministry of priests in Ireland today in the ‘Relentless Ministry’ section [The Irish Catholic – January 16, 2025]. It seems clear that many priests are hurting very badly, and this may be partly as a result of a reluctance on our part to speak to…
Notes in haste – January 2025 We have a new school principal in our Catholic school, which rejoices in having our bishop as its patron. The chair of the board of management almost crowed at the Catholic attributes of the new principal; he would be a squeaky-clean leader of our school, in addition to already…
Relentless Ministry – In a new series written by Priests, we will explore what most priests describe as “Relentless Ministry” and the challenges of being a priest in Ireland today The issue of closing churches has been grappled with so far in a seemingly haphazard way that needs to be tackled sooner rather than later.…
For years I never paid much attention to the growing narrative around childfree couples – and more visibly – childfree women. I was living my life and hadn’t really got that call to have children. I am still suspicious of whether men ever really get the call the way women do. It is rare that…
It’s almost 300 years since the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin penned his famous satirical essay, A Modest Proposal. The Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift famously suggested the impoverished Irish, burdened by parenthood, need not go hungry. All they had to do was sell their own babies as food, like livestock, to wealthy English…
Just four years from now, these islands will mark the bicentenary of Catholic emancipation. We’re used to seeing it almost exclusively as an Irish celebration, but we shouldn’t forget that the act as well as a huge breakthrough for Catholics in Britain, was the first great measure of Westminster reform of the 19th Century. The…
It is that time of year again. Or rather, it is one of those times of year again, where I rail against the appropriation of Ireland’s Christian heritage by elements who co-opt religious Feast Days for secular enjoyment. We are becoming accustomed – inured almost – to the annual attempts to re-cast Christmas as a…
The band played The Battle Hymn of the Republic, as the culture wars exploded at Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington last week. “We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit-based,” the American President declared, as he announced an end to government policies which try to socially engineer race and gender into every…
David Quinn
Martina Purdy
Michael Kelly