An MP has proposed adding an “Amess amendment” to a bill going through parliament ensuring that Catholic priests can administer the last rites at crime scenes. Mike Kane, a Labour Party representative, is seeking to add the amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. A spokesperson for Kane has stated that the ‘Amess amendment’ would…
By trying to over-psychologise everyday life we do people a huge disservice, Prof. Patricia Casey tells Michael Kelly Over decades of professional practice and a ready willingness to appear in the media, few people have contributed to the public understanding of psychiatry as much as Prof. Patricia Casey. And yet, the realm of mental illness…
Networks set up to make life more interactive also operate in a more insidious way by harming your peace of mind, writes David Quinn In George Orwell’s 1984 it was ‘Big Brother’ who was constantly watching us. ‘Big Brother’ was the totalitarian state – it wanted to control every aspect of our lives, shaping our…
The latest trends and advances in technology are changing funeral practices in Ireland and around the world, writes Jason Osborne The world seems more fluid than ever before, and even the age-old traditions surrounding death and funerals aren’t immune to the effects of the current trends and technology reshaping everything we know. Speaking to The Irish…
Living with History: Occasional Writings by Felix M Larkin (Kingdom Books, €24.00/£20.50) Felix Larkin will be well-known to readers of the books page of The Irish Catholic for his many perceptive reviews of books about Irish and American history. He is a former senior official in the Department of Finance and was later in the National…
Fr Shay Cullen was praised for his work tackling sexual crimes against children by Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin as he relaunched the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2018. Speaking in the Dáil October 19, Mr Devlin acknowledged Fr Cullen’s “distinguished record of working with women and children in the Philippines to protect them from sex…
Sr Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argoti, a missionary who was abducted in Mali in February 2017 and held for nearly five years before finally being released on October 9 of this year, posted on Twitter thanking God and all those who have made her new-found freedom possible. Sr Gloria said, “I want to lift up my…
Suspected arsonists targeted Scotland’s national shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in the latest in a series of incidents at Catholic sites. The fire caused damage to Carfin Grotto, which has added to the financial strain on the shrine that welcomed in excess of 70,000 pilgrims a year before the Covid crisis. John P Mallon, the…
Letter from Rome After the death earlier this year of a close friend and former colleague, Benedict XVI wrote a letter to the monastery to which his late friend belonged in which he offered condolences, and said he hoped his journey to the afterlife would not be long in coming. German priest and Cistercian monk…
Personal Profile When Sr Helen Freer made her first profession to the Redemptoristines in Dublin a few weeks ago, the celebrant said that “God is a God of surprises”. This is a truth that Sr Helen’s life testifies to – it was only in 2016 that she entered the Catholic Church, a journey sparked by…
Michael Kelly
David Quinn
Ruadhán Jones