Religion & Beliefs
Funerals are the only aspect of Catholic life I engage with any more
Every time I’m in a church and listening with adult ears, I’m struck by the reality that religion is a response to fear
Today’s Bible accurately represents what was originally written, despite differences in style
Rite & Reason: William Tyndale’s translation of the Greek New Testament into English appeared 500 years ago
Believing the believers
We should also be able to ask all believers, religious and non-religious, about the consistency of their belief system
Putting faith in religion in a country ‘open to everything except for God’
One brave man’s beliefs led him to make principled stand against Ireland v Israel football match
‘It’s like going back in time’ – after 28 years, communities stand off on Garvaghy Road
Politicians defiant as tensions expected to continue for days over planned Orange Order march
Is Ireland still a place ‘open to everything except for God’?
Public professions of faith induce a kind of culture cringe in post-Catholic Ireland. But when someone like Katie Taylor tells us what they believe, the least we can do is listen
Garvaghy Road residents to seek last-minute halt after Orange Order granted permission to march
‘Fuse has been lit’ by Parades Commission decision to allow first march since 1997
Survivors experience Christian Brothers’ litigation strategy as abuse by other means
Rite and Reason: Toll extends beyond the courts, intruding on family life and the space survivors need for therapy and healing
Church of Ireland seeks to allay concerns about past finances at Dublin parish where newly elected bishop was rector
Church says parish administration ‘suffered’ when Andrew Orr, recently elected as Bishop of Cork, was rector in Castleknock
We don’t need a patronage model. We need a public education system
The education system must be built for every child in it
The World’s Reformation: A story combining academic authority with gripping readability
The Reformation history scholar’s judicious account of missionary endeavour combines academic authority with gripping readability
Christian Brothers are an easy target but I am slow to stand in judgment
Rite & Reason: I think of what it must be like for the small number of men who are still in the Order now to have all this ignominy poured on them
Donegal-based Rev Janet Broderick on her brother Matthew, sermons, and disliking fish
The Donegal-based priest on childhood games with her brother, actor Matthew Broderick, who could play her in a biopic, and how people react to her preaching sermons.
Twin Reeks: Frank McNally on a new, virtual reality Croagh Patrick and the real (but changing) thing
Preparing to climb the old-fashioned way, I am reminded that the modern Reek Sunday is nothing like it was 25 or 30 years ago
‘The United States is still an experiment,’ says descendant of signatory of Declaration of Independence
David McKean’s ancestor Thomas McKean was one of eight signatories of Irish descent to sign the document
Ultra-Orthodox Jews block traffic with anti-draft protests
Campaign by the community against conscription has intensified since ‘draft dodgers’ were handed over to the military police
An Irish Catholic may be defined in the future as the son or daughter of someone from Manila or Lagos
Rite & Reason: A recent report found that 18 per cent of the Republic’s Catholics were born elsewhere. Far from their threatening the old culture, as xenophobes so often suggest, they are keeping it alive
Imagine a world where saints roam free, among us, on the bus or in TK Maxx
To acknowledge the idea of a saint is to acknowledge the question: what does it mean to be a good person?
Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI is a striking manifesto of Christian humanism
Rite and Reason: Magnifica Humanitas considers what it might mean to safeguard the best parts of being human in the time of artificial intelligence
I’m a school principal. I find it unsettling what First Holy Communion has become
If you ask about the religious aspect of the day then it is often brushed off as naive or beside the point
‘We cannot allow hatred to win’ – seventh annual Eid celebration proceeds at Croke Park
Warmly welcomed former taoiseach Bertie Ahern wishes Muslims `Eid Mubarak’ at ceremony
Presbyterian Church is celebrating 100 years of women in leadership
Rite & Reason: In 1926, the Presbyterian General Assembly decided that ‘women shall be eligible ... as ruling elders on the same conditions as men’
Róisín Ingle: I don’t believe in God. Though lately, quietly, I sometimes wish I did
Róisín Ingle: It feels as though lately, the God so many other people believe in keeps trying to get my attention
Student teachers will be taught to deliver ethical education under new framework
Programme to be delivered in multi-denominational primary schools as survey finds growing desire for non-religious run schools
Ordaining women will strengthen the Church, not diminish it
No convincing biblical impediment to their ordination, either
Growing up a communist in Troubles-era Belfast: We were treated more like ‘comrades’ than children
Poet Sinéad Morrissey’s elegiac memoir describes growing up in Troubles-era Belfast with communist parents
Why are religious schools seen as divisive but Irish-language schools are not?
There is a strange double standard about religion in schools as opposed to other areas of learning
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices