No-one can pretend that Ireland is not becoming a more dangerous place, writes David Quinn The growing savagery of violence that is taking place between drug gangs here in Ireland has shocked a public already exposed to seemingly endless murderous incidents between rival gangs fighting turf wars and ordering revenge killings. Ireland has a long…
Fr Ray Kelly survived the first elimination from RTÉ1’s Dancing with the Stars at the weekend, despite posting the lowest score on the night. His ch-cha-cha dance with Kylee Vincent to ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’ by Michael Buble, which featured a cameo from comedian Des Bishop, scored a six. Of the judging panel, Brian Redmond gave…
A Nigerian seminarian who was abducted this month was freed by his kidnappers after 10 days in captivity. Three seminarians kidnapped with him remain in captivity. The freed seminarian, who has not yet been identified, is being treated at a Catholic hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria. The extent of his injuries is unclear, but he is…
Repeal activists are treating this election as a chance to finish off pro-life politics – to save it, pro-lifers need to canvass and vote for Aontú, writes Ben Conroy It’s important for the pro-life movement to have a presence in political life. In this election, Aontú surviving as a political entity will help that…
Pro-life party Aontú has vowed to insist on legislation making pain relief for babies due to be aborted as mandatory. Launching its manifesto this week the party – which is running 25 candidates and is confident of making gains – also said that it would prioritise the right of everyone to conscientious objection where abortion…
Brazil’s government has drawn criticism after launching a project that aims to revamp the country’s arts scene, with a focus on nationalism and religion. The project is part of the far-right administration’s answer to what it sees as decades of leftist hegemony in the cultural sphere – from art to education and family. Though cash-strapped,…
Questions of Faith All Catholics know that the first Pope was St Peter, but after his martyrdom, who succeeded him? While we’re not entirely sure who followed on from Peter, according to Church tradition, St Linus was the second bishop of Rome who reigned some time between 67-80AD. Multiple sources attest to this, the most…
The current rector of the Notre-Dame Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin will be returning to the US, it has been announced, with his replacement “excited” to begin this summer. Fr Bill Dailey CSC, who headed the famous University Church founded by St John Henry at Stephen’s Green, will return to the US to…
A Dutch Catholic newspaper warned churches will continue to close in the Netherlands, where half of all Catholic parishes have already been dissolved amid plummeting church participation. “It’s never good to panic, but there are grave concerns about the way things are going here,” said Peter Doorakkers, an editor at the Katholiek Nieuwsblad weekly. “It’s…
Letter from Rome At the beginning of last week, the insider Catholic universe imploded when news broke that retired Pope Benedict XVI and Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah had co-authored a new book defending priestly celibacy just as Pope Francis is considering an exception to the rule proposed during the Amazon synod. In the fierce and…
David Quinn
Ben Conroy
Colm Fitzpatrick