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Ireland

Ireland faces biggest Diocesan restructuring in 900 years

April 16, 2024

A reduction in the number of bishops in the West of Ireland is part of the most radical restructuring of Irish Church governance in nine centuries. The key changes made in a 10 April announcement by Argentinian-born Archbishop Luis Montemayorm, Papal Nuncio to Ireland, and which mark the biggest change in diocesan structures since the 12th

The cynical politics (and politicians) endorsing assisted dying and abortion

April 14, 2024

This is a bleak time to be pro-life. The holistic vision of human life from conception to natural death as being invested with dignity and worthy of respect is being steadily undermined by legislatures. In Britain and Ireland, there are moves to introduce assisted dying into law. An Irish parliamentary inquiry has recommended legislation to

Letters: A morally tough choice for US Catholics (Biden v. Trump) doesn’t excuse them from need to vote in election

April 02, 2024

The common good Sir – We live in difficult times, and it is very hard to discern and make wise political decisions. I deeply disagree with Ken Craycraft’s suggestion (March 2024) that Catholics should consider not voting for either candidate in the forthcoming US presidential election. Dr Craycraft is right that it is a good

Finding hope among the ruins: Rebuilding the Church in Ireland through sincerity

March 31, 2024

On a cold Spring morning on the west coast of Ireland, replete with intermittent showers of sleet, I travelled to the small town of Claregalway, just outside Galway city. Standing on the outskirts of the town are the impressive ruins of a Franciscan Abbey, whose origins date as far back as 1250 A.D. The story

Does Leo Varadkar’s surprise resignation as Ireland’s first gay Taoiseach show he underestimated the Catholic Church?

March 21, 2024

The news that Leo Varadkar is to step down as Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) once his Fine Gael party selects a new leader, will give rise to reflection among the country’s Catholics about whether his successor will bring any changes to current Church-State relations. Varadkar had a complex relationship with the Catholic Church, after making

Irish Establishment’s denigration of Christian heritage receives first rebuttal through overwhelming referendum defeat

March 13, 2024

“The Irish bishops can still win an election.” A friend of mine said this to me as the results of the two Irish referendums on the Family Amendment and the Care Amendment to the Irish Constitution started to filter through – indicating a dual defeat for the Irish government. My friend was speaking somewhat in

Ireland declares an emphatic ‘No’ to government effort to change constitution

March 11, 2024

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Ireland’s ruling government received a stinging defeat in a referendum to change the country’s constitutional provision that seeks to ensure that mothers should not be obliged to work. The current so-called “woman in home” clause of the constitution says the Irish state will “endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be

Ireland’s 8 March Referendums: Does Irish government now wish it had kept its constitutional nose out of the Family?

March 07, 2024

The upcoming dual referendum in Ireland has begun to turn into a quagmire that the government may wish it had never embarked upon. Although polling shows that voters are tending towards Yes in both votes, known locally as the “Family and Care” amendments, the gap has narrowed as the vote approaches on March 8. The intervention of the