NOBODY ever wrote better about the situation we now face than a man who died over half a century ago.

Funeral Masses are the latest Catholic tradition being tarnished by modern churchgoers, a Cork priest has said.

Hopes of finding the remains of a missing Vatican teenager in the tombs of two 19th-century German princesses have been dashed.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline.

Until recently, we equated values with religion, but have swapped all that for public opinion, writes Gerard Howlin.

Such hostility is predictable when you remember that just 19 women have sat at the Cabinet table, the top table in Irish politics, writes Daniel McConnell.

A culture of sexism and misogyny in Irish politics in decades past is laid bare in a book about the role of female politicians.

Pope Francis then planted an Irish oak tree on the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin, becoming the second Pope to plant a tree on the presidential grounds.

Social change, recent referendum results and a changing social order mean the Ireland of today is very different from that seen by Pope John Paul II in 1979.

Mary McAleese says her family feel unwelcome in the church in the run-up to the Pope’s visit.

The declining numbers of clergy and of church-goers, and our new, multicultural society pose challenges to our Catholic-identity communities, says Fr Éamonn Fitzgibbon.

Reconciliation is a risky undertaking, but the Irish can be a forgiving people. Pope Francis, we’d like to move on. Help us in that process, writes Joyce Fegan

A new book on Pope Francis argues that, given the various crises which face the Catholic Church, what’s needed is a new blueprint, especially here in Ireland, says TP O’Mahony.

More than 30,000 people have registered for the Pastoral Congress, one of the main elements of the Catholic Church’s World Meeting of Families (WMoF) being held in Dublin in August just before the visit of Pope Francis.

Limerick honoured its most popular ever visitor today as a memorial was unveiled to Pope John Paul II.

Pope Francis will visit Ireland later this year, but will find a different country to that which welcomed his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, almost four decades ago.

The ‘empire of misogyny’ referred to by Mary McAleese will not be reformed by the Pope, who thinks the genders have different, divinely ordained roles, says TP O’Mahony

Yesterday, thousands of people attended a four-hour public reposal of rock star Dolores O’Riordan in her native Limerick. The county has begun three days of mourning.

At the age of 17, Brian Prendergast followed a long family tradition of finding a career in music through the army. He’s now the Cork-based conductor of one of the defence forces’ best bands, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

A request is being made for Pope Francis to come to Co Cork when he visits Ireland next August, with the racecourse in Mallow likely the best venue to host him.

Colette Sheridan speaks to the two men who built the Popemobile for his visit to Ireland, which can now be rented for stag or hen parties.

Archbishop Eamon Martin delivered a lecture at the University of East Anglia in Norwich yesterday evening on the theme ‘The Church in the Public Sphere – a perspective from Ireland’. Here is an extended extract from his speech.

Every year the programme attracts thousands of viewers and stands as their most popular special, next to the Toy Show of course.

Pope Francis will "do everything he can" to come to Ireland next year, a senior Vatican official has said.

The arc of Eamonn Casey’s life had many highlights, all of which are aptly recalled in the wake of his death.

The revelations of May 1992 robbed the country of a bishop with energy and vision, writes TP O’Mahony.

Former Irish Examiner Religious Affairs correspondent TP O’Mahony profiles the life of one of Ireland’s most controversial religious figures.

In recent decades, popes have reinforced centralised control of the Catholic Church by influencing who gets promoted in each country, writes TP O’Mahony

When Pope John Paul II elevated Desmond Connell to the archdiocese of Dublin in January 1988, he was far from being the first choice.

Arlene Foster has said "of course" she would meet the Pope if he goes to Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster, leader of the once staunchly anti-papist Democratic Unionists, has vowed to meet Pope Francis during an expected trip to the region.

Pope Francis will make a ground-breaking visit to Northern Ireland when he travels to Ireland in 2018, Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister has predicted.

Conor McGregor could hardly have done more to make New York sit up and take notice, writes Brendan O’Brien

The start of the Premier League season has Gary Lineker returning on Match of the Day on BBC One at 10.30pm tonight.