Continued failure to restore a devolved government in Northern Ireland “drains hope from our society” Church leaders have said in a New Year message. Archbishop Eamon Martin, along with the heads of Ireland’s Christian churches, said it is the vulnerable that suffer the most as the ongoing stalemate enters its third year. The situation “has…
Letter from America In what has been one of the darkest years in the history of the American Catholic Church, it may sound strange to speak of highlights. Yet, as the storm clouds of the clerical sexual abuse crisis overshadowed much of 2018, and lingers into 2019, looking back on the past year reveals…
State Papers: Secrets of the powers that be The very real fear that the government, or at least the Taoiseach, Mr de Valera, felt in the summer of 1940 is a fact unintentionally revealed by some of the files. The trail through documents began with a query from Prof. R. Dudley Edwards in UCD…
Inés San Martín For a man who said that his pontificate would be a short one, Pope Francis is showing no signs of slowing down at the beginning of his seventh year as the successor of Peter. In many ways, 2018 was a roller coaster for the Argentine Pontiff who turned 82 on December…
State Papers: Secrets of the powers that be The war in Europe came to an end on May 7, 1945, but Europe remained (and perhaps remains) haunted by the consequences. In the current harvest of files a couple relate to aspects, not so much of the immediate aftermath, but of later years. Two episode…
State Papers: Echoes of the past from the archives To lose one of Ireland’s leaders, albeit, in symbolic form is an odd thing to do. But Dáil Éireann managed it. On June 22, 1987 Tom Ryan RHA, then the distinguished president of that academy, rang the Taoiseach’s department in Mr Hughes’s second term as…
Seasonal sadness can destroy your Christmas holidays, but there are ways to combat it, writes Colm Fitzpatrick The Christmas holidays are a highlight in almost everybody’s calendar, but the season can be tinged with unexpected feelings of unhappiness and loneliness, with these spilling over or bubbling up in January. The ‘Christmas blues’ or ‘post-holiday…
A Pakistani court sentenced Christian brothers Qaisar and Amoon Ayub to death for blasphemy after they were convicted of insulting the Islamic prophet Mohammed in articles and portraits posted on their website. Qaisar (44) and Amoon (38) have been held in Jhelum District Jail, Punjab province, 200km north of Lahore, since they were arrested in…
The American group who led Ireland’s largest women’s retreat last year have said they will return to Ireland this year and feel they have more work to do in the country. Highlighting the importance of links built with the Irish co-ordinators of November’s retreat, which saw 250 women gathering at the Emmaus Centre in Swords,…
Europe could die without a civilisation to give it life, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Why do some civilisations collapse to dust, whereas others are able to grow stronger and stronger? A quick glance at history’s fallen cultures like the Sumerian and Babylonian civilisations, as well as the Roman Empire, highlight the unwavering mortality of societies,…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly