Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that while in his view abortion is “sometimes necessary,” it is “not a good thing” and would like to see fewer abortions take place in Ireland. In a recent interview with The Irish Times, Mr Varadkar was asked about the independent review of the State’s abortion law, which recommended a…
It is taken for granted these days by those of every political and religious persuasion that love is a very good thing, and rightly so. This is so taken for granted that it’s one of those things that has become invisible, a truth that goes without saying. We usually learn about ‘love’ by osmosis, rather…
Change is always difficult, the new Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois Paul Connell tells me. Whether it’s the substantial societal shifts the Church is facing, or the personal upheaval Bishop Connell himself experienced upon accepting his appointment to Ardagh and Clonmacnois, change is never easy – but it’s ripe with opportunity. Surprised Conscious that he’s…
People who take part in religious practices are less likely to get depression, see a slowing down of the ageing process and don’t die as early as people who don’t take part in religious services, according to one of Ireland’s leading authorities on ageing. Principal investigator of The Irish Longitudinal study on Ageing (TILDA), Prof. Rose Anne Kenny…
Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell will launch the new website of the Tarsus Scripture School Friday June 16 after those behind it identified that people are “hungry” for better catechesis. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, one of the founders, Sean Goan, said that those who’ve availed of the scriptural school so far haven’t “been…
St Anthony of Padua On 13 June, the Church calls to mind one of its Doctors – St Anthony of Padua. This remarkable man, but a very ordinary one, too, in so many ways, is one of the most quickly canonised saints in the Church’s long history, with Pope Gregory IX canonising him less than…
It’s widely held today that faith, or spirituality as it’s more commonly put these days, is a private matter. Rightly perceived as an important element of the inner lives of individuals, our culture’s view of the topic is this: faith or spirituality is an expression of the individual’s relationship with God, the universe or some…
A Dublin-based priest has commended the Church’s work with asylum seekers while condemning the attempted conflation of the Church with the anti-immigration proponents by Social Democrats Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon. Taking to Twitter on Monday, Mr Gannon shared an Irish Times article titled, ‘Why are Ireland’s Church leaders so silent on immigration?’ while commenting…
If the Government’s solution to prison overcrowding is to simply build more prison spaces, “we’ll be having this conversation in the future as well,” a penal policy advocate with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has said. Reports Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper about recent reports that well over one hundred prisoners, both…
Ireland and Poland are just at different points along the same path when it comes to genuine Catholic faith, writes Jason Osborne from Poland. Life in Poland is a blast from the Catholic, Irish past in some ways. An example of this is that this week Poles enjoy a day off for Corpus Christi, whereas…