Our school admissions system is broken. Many parents are in for a rude awakening
Families who expected a straightforward enrolment process are grappling with the harsh reality of Ireland’s oversubscribed schools
Catholic Church
Here’s why churches across Ireland will turn red next Wednesday
Rite & Reason: One in seven Christians in the world faces persecution or extreme discrimination because of their faith
‘Is that your wife? You should be ashamed’: a charity collector’s anti-immigrant hate in south Dublin
A man, oblivious to the world, and so at war with the living, screamed and heckled a couple and their daughter
Priest numbers in Dublin to fall 70 per cent in 20 years, report predicts
Only two priests have been ordained in capital’s archdiocese since 2020, with none so far this year
How multicultural Ireland is contributing to a growth in the Presbyterian Church
Maynooth Community Church is among those bucking the trend of decline in church membership, boosting its congregation with people of faith from overseas
I know how to behave in a church and I ticked the box for ‘Roman Catholic’ on the census. But I am not a Catholic
Rite & Reason: Going to church, attending Mass or engaging with the Catholic Church in any meaningful way has always felt, to me, like acting
Men are suffering a crisis of meaning. And some are finding answers in orthodox religion
While being young and female is still no picnic, young men are struggling in multiple ways
Sr Stan: ‘People thought there weren’t women homeless, because they were invisible’
At 85, the long-time social campaigner says there’s no such thing as a typical homeless person: ‘every one of them is different, all have their own story, their own background’
Maïa Dunphy: ‘I’m a contradiction when it comes to religion, but I don’t think I’m alone’
Faith used to be a set menu with very limited choices. Perhaps to survive, and to give people what they need, it needs to become a buffet
Catholic Church needs clear rules on victim compensation, Vatican’s commission finds
Vatican commission stresses ‘the importance of compensation for victims/survivors, as a concrete commitment to their healing journey’
Catholic bishops call on TDs to reject proposals on assisted dying in Wednesday’s Dáil vote
Proposals recommend allowing assisted dying in restricted circumstances
Sexual abuse of children by priests was known ‘at all levels’ in Catholic Church, says Archbishop of Dublin
There was ‘no effort made to deal with perpetrators’ Dermot Farrell tells US Catholic TV network
Maïa Dunphy: ‘I was terrified of becoming a single parent. Now I am one’
Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen Hogan: The writer and TV star on having a one child, needing her mum and à la carte Catholicism
Where is our hot moral indignation when it comes to the fathers of the babies found at Tuam?
Small Things Like These misses an essential truth about Catholic Ireland
Opus by Gareth Gore: Shining a light on the ‘dark money’ behind a shadowy Catholic organisation
A deeply disturbing and important book which will interest and concern anyone who believes in that blessed trinity of modern democracy – openness, transparency and accountability
Meet the two Irish women with voting rights at the Synod of Bishops in Rome
Traditionally, the only non-bishops with voting rights were 10 members of male religious orders but Pope Francis has changed that to five men and women religious
‘He bate the f**k out of you - every day’: victims of corporal punishment on violence in the classroom
Survivors of physical abuse over decades in Irish schools want an apology for what they suffered at the hands of teachers
I’m a walking, talking example of how driving home the message of the Catholic Church in schools does not work
At a time when school divestment should be ramping up, it seems like boards of management are digging their heels in
Donal Murray, former bishop of Limerick, dies aged 84
Murray resigned in light of Murphy commission report on handling of child sex abuse allegations in Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004
‘It’s common knowledge teachers lie about their faith’: Is religion a barrier to getting a job as a primary teacher?
Critics say a requirement to hold a religious certificate in most national schools means many new teachers have to uphold something they don’t believe
Synod on Synodality aims at missionary outreach to the excluded and marginalised
Rite & Reason: This month, 368 delegates from around the world are gathering in Rome for the second session of the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality
Government has a windfall of cash but no coherent sense of how to spend it
We have a windfall – but the golden apples seem to have fallen on our heads. Our governing culture has lost its great get-out clause: ‘If only we had the money…'
Why do so many people want spiritualist wedding ceremonies?
The Catholic Church cannot and should not attempt to compete with a spirituality which is essentially whatever a couple wants it to b
Is something being lost to economics with the rejection of religion?
Rite & Reason: Gospel values differ from economic values. In Luke’s Gospel it is said that anyone with two tunics should give one away
Priest appeals for return of ‘God’s Influencer’ relic lost at Ploughing Championships
Lock of Carlo Acutis’s hair, in black box, brought to event as part of drive to attract more people to religious life
McGarry book launch told how previous generation of journalism missed ‘blindingly obvious’ reality of clerical sex abuse
Veteran broadcaster Vincent Browne says’ the most persistent person in holding the Catholic Church to account was Patsy McGarry’
A discriminatory law has become a block on the divestment of Catholic schools
Alone among faith schools, Catholic schools are prevented from prioritising children from families committed to their ethos. The legislation is up for review
Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity review: Magisterial work on theologies around sex
Diarmaid MacCulloch’s ambitious book looks at celibacy, marriage, homosexuality and trans issues from the perspective that there is no single consistent view of these in the Bible, Patsy McGarry writes
‘Culture of denial’ about child sexual abuse addressed in sermon by Archbishop of Dublin
Church has not ‘come to terms with what was done to thousands upon thousands of innocent and vulnerable people’, says Dermot Farrell
Agent Noel Kelly bounces back after Tubridy controversy
Plus: Irish Catholic podcast believes the pope is a very naughty boy; JP McManus’s road woes; and Ciaran Mullooly’s new adviser in Brussels
Some 21 men begin studies for ordination as Catholic priests
New group taking part in new Propaedeutic Programme at several locations across Europe
Can I afford to let religious ethos be a factor in choosing a school for my child?
There are so many practical considerations to choosing a school that go beyond religious ethos
Churches are half-empty. So why does the Catholic Church still control so many of our primary schools?
Catholic Church’s influence on Irish life is waning, yet only Israel spends more time on religious education at primary level
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