A new gene-editing therapy called Casgevy, which is designed to help treat patients suffering from sickle cell disease, has been endorsed by the US-based National Catholic Bioethics Center and its president, Dr Joseph Meaney. Casgevy is a new gene therapy developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals that uses CRISPR, a genome-editing technology, to modify a patient’s blood…
A statue of an archbishop that was decapitated outside the cathedral in Tipperary was restored and then blessed on December 17. The vandals who targeted the statue of Archbishop Patrick Leahy, which is based outside the front of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles, were not caught. Despite an investigation launched after the attack…
John Mulderig One promising way to get in the holiday mood is to watch a Christmas-themed movie. And, since yuletide films naturally tend to qualify as family-friendly, they can also provide an opportunity to gather the clan, make some popcorn and relax together. Following, in alphabetical order, are capsule reviews of eight such pictures with…
Football fans on the European continent have been faithfully flying flags for Our Lady and one of the Church’s great saints, St Ambrose of Milan, during recent football games. Images of the flags went viral on social media after the games, with many commenting favourably on the public displays of affection for the Faith. The…
Notebook We won the county final. The rural parish where I’ve been based since 2022 took on the big urban city clubs in the biggest county in Ireland — and we won. It was some achievement for a tiny parish like ours. Some may wonder who is this “we”. I haven’t been known previously for…
The Gospel stories about the birth of Jesus are not a simple retelling of the events that took place then, at the stable in Bethlehem. In his commentaries on the birth of Jesus, the renowned scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, highlights that these narratives were written long after Jesus had already been crucified and had risen…
Letter From Rome H.L. Mencken once famously quipped that love is like war, in that it’s easy to begin but very hard to stop. Had Mencken plied his journalistic trade in the internet age, he might well have added rumours to that list, which are notoriously easy these days to put into circulation and virtually…
A two-point question: It is common to hear, ‘It’s a miracle,’ for a sports comeback victory. Does the Church actually have a definition of a miracle? When it comes to canonisation, miracles are required, aren’t they? Does a miracle happen in other domains except health and medicine? A miracle is an extraordinary phenomenon that cannot…
In today’s episode, Brandon and Michael Kelly (Editor of the Irish Catholic) discuss what makes Christmas such a special time of year and it’s importance to Catholic’s around the world.
When I look back on the year in the media I usually see what comes to mind before re-reading my columns. This gives me a good impression of what really stands out, though I’m often surprised by what I’ve forgotten about. The first thing that springs to mind is war. Last year it was the…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
John L. Allen Jr.
Brendan O’Regan