In March 2021, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference announced a Synodal Pathway for the Catholic Church in Ireland. This pathway has overlapped with the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” which, after three years of deliberations, concluded in Rome last October. According…

Embracing the present moment with realism, and planning for a future full of hope, go hand in hand. Archbishop Dermot Farrell, reflecting on the motto chosen by Pope Francis for the Jubilee Year 2025, ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, has posed a critical question: ‘Hope comes to those who journey in hope… Could we risk a journey…

This week, many parents will be breathing a sigh of relief as their little ones go back to the classroom, but for some Catholic parents, there is anxiety too. Just last weekend, in a meeting with about 2000 Italian parents and educators, Pope Francis warned Catholic educators against bullying, stating that it prepares students for…

Recently, I was sent a video of Donald Trump tenderly cutting Kamala Harris’ hair. It was obviously a fake but good enough to cause a quick giggle. Reading last August that a private school in London had instituted the first fully AI classroom was not quite so funny. David Game College charges 20 young people…

Recently I was one of a number of Irish bishops who paid a short visit to Ethiopia to see the work that Trócaire is undertaking there. Founded in 1973 by the Irish Bishops Conference in line with Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio, Trócaire’s mission is to give concrete expression to the Church’s social…

As pilgrims of hope in a synodal Church, we need to talk urgently about ministerial priesthood. We need to courageously face up to the crisis of very few priests that will be in the Irish Church of the future and the consequences of this reality. In doing so, there are two extremes to avoid. The…

Counting down to 2025, an old child’s riddle came to mind: “What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen?” The answer is obvious: “Time to buy a new clock!” Though frankly, if it had been reported on RTE that the clock in Times Square had struck thirteen, as 2024 expired, would any of us…

I didn’t know what subjects to study when I started at UCG in 1988. I tried out different classes in first year and settled on English and French for the degree. I had a nagging regret through in my second year that I hadn’t taken Gaeilge. But there were other ways to improve at Irish,…

  Respect for human dignity is why I am in politics. I was early out of the blocks to oppose the Government’s attempt to dilute respect for ‘mothers’ in the Irish Constitution and to equate ‘marriage’ with ‘other durable relationships’. This Bill had passed through the Dáil with the minimum of scrutiny. Not so in…