Matt Letourneau Dublin’s St Andrew’s Church in the Westland Row Parish has had to cancel a performance by the Dublin Gay Men’s Chorus, titled ‘Pride In The Name Of Love’ which was to be held in the church. The parish was originally slated to host the chorus on June 23 during the Dublin Pride celebration.…
It is my experience that most people are fair-minded when they reflect on things. But the clerical child abuse scandal has for many years been such an emotional subject that a discussion about safeguarding priests from the lingering cloud of suspicion would have been challenging and even considered inappropriate. Despite the ongoing trauma and hurt…
We are not at all as European as we think. For all the talk of ‘being Europeans’ (which we clearly are), almost everyone identifies with and relates to their own country first. It is the same across the rest of Europe and next door in Britain as well. This is why we know much more…
Concerns have arisen as Catholics express their intention to leave ‘X’ (Twitter) due to the platform’s Adult Content Policy changes which state that “Adult Content covers our approach to sharing consensual sexual content and adult nudity”. While globally there is a wave of faithful people contemplating deleting their ‘X’ accounts, Fr Paddy Byrne PP of…
A new Ecuadorian priest in Ireland is bringing the community together to live their Faith and celebrate their culture. In the first week of June, a meeting with Mass and traditional food was hosted by the community at the Avila Carmelite Centre. Fr Jose Luis, who has been in Ireland for four months and is…
If you hate the thought of more hate legislation, brace yourself. There’s a fresh push to deal with ‘hate crimes’ north of the border, despite controversies in the Dail and elsewhere, over this kind of law. It’s a noble aim to stamp out hatred and prejudice. But how far can the law go to achieve…
The controversy surrounding Eurovision 2024 led me to recall Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ’s commentary on St Paul’s visit to Athens. On arrival, St Paul “was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Yet despite this, he searched for something in the Athenians’ worship of pagan deities that he…
The manner in which two West of Ireland dioceses were merged last April has shown that the Irish Church leadership talks the talk of synodality but doesn’t walk the walk according to a leading theologian. Fr Eugene Duffy, theologian and priest of the Diocese of Achonry, writing in the Furrow that “After 900 years, two diocese Achonry…
Ava Westendorf Pope Francis invited more than 100 comedians, including Irish and international names, to join him at the Vatican on June 14 at a joint event organised by both the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, and the Dicastery for Communication. ‘Father Ted’ star Ardal O’Hanlon, ‘Late Late Show’ host Patrick Kielty and ‘The…
Concerned that schools fail to acknowledge insights An Irish theologian has said that “paradoxically, the desolation and desires expressed in the Eurovision performances (of acts such as Nemo Mettler from Switzerland and Ireland’s Bambi Thug) validate the Christian insight that only God can satisfy human desires.” Writing in this issue of The Irish Catholic, Fr…
David Quinn
Renata Steffens
Martina Purdy