Boston College: Enda Kenny, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister), will give the Commencement Address to Boston College’s 4,400 graduates at Alumni Stadium this morning.
 
In the three years since coming to power, Kenny has looked to build a “Republic of laws,” a Republic that many Irish expatriates in the US—myself included—identify with because it closely mirrors the society in which we now live, a society where the letter of the law rather than the unspoken assumption of a doctrinaire moral code determines social policy.
 
Savita Halappanavar is a victim of that moral code and social policy. Mrs. Halappanavar died of sepsis, an infection brought on by the miscarriage of her seventeen-week pregnancy, in a Galway hospital on 28th October 2012. Her grieving husband described the medical treatment meted out to his wife as “horrendous, barbaric and inhumane.” To read the “Timeline” of his wife’s eight-day ordeal, based on evidence presented at the week-long official inquest, induces shame and anger. A young healthy woman fell victim to a lack of political will.
 
Enda Kenny outlined his vision for a very different Ireland during a Dáil Éireann speech in July 2011 when responding to the publication of the Cloyne Report. Like earlier reports—Murphy, Ryan, and Ferns—Cloyne echoed the well established narrative of clerical child sex abuse and confirmed the Catholic hierarchy’s failure to report such abuse to the civic authorities. The Bishop in question observed the dictates of the Vatican rather than the law of the land.
 
But Cloyne was of a different order too. It detailed how the Vatican deliberately organized to frustrate an Irish State-commissioned inquiry into clerical child sex abuse as recently as 2009. In an unprecedented move, Mr. Kenny, a devout Catholic, entered the Dáil chamber, the seat of political power in Ireland, and called the Vatican to account. And, he declared the primacy of the State’s standards, not those of the Catholic Church, in all matters related to the protection of Ireland’s children.
 
The “Cloyne speech” represents a watershed moment because it encapsulates a new vision for the nation:

The abortion bill being proposed by the Irish government is the best that can be achieved on this incredibly difficult issue.

The president of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has apologized to the Catholic Diocese in Pittsburgh who were gravely offended by a female student who dressed up as a “Naked Pope”, while passing out condoms at the annual art school parade.

A homeless man in Dublin has pleaded not guilty, by reason of insanity, to the charge of arson of a Catholic Church at Christmas, causing $5.2 million (€4m) in damages.

Catholic bishops are to write to the Northern Ireland Assembly in opposition of the legalisation of the same-sex marriage motion which is to be debated by the Assembly in Stormont on Monday, 29 April, 2013.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSCCCI) has published audits of several dioceses and states that the now retired bishop of Clogher, Joseph Duffy, repeatedly missed opportunities to prevent clergy from abusing children.

The incoming head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has vowed to restore faith amongst his flock after his full ordination.

Pope Francis is making a reputation for himself as a frugal man who will forgo the luxuries associated with his office. Gone are the signature Prada red shoes, the ermine fur and the fabulous robes and golden thrones of his predecessor Pope Benedict.

Cardinal Sean Brady, Catholic Primate of All-Ireland, has spoken in his Easter message of his visit to the Vatican for the election of Pope Francis.

Some 23 primary schools across the country are set to lose their Catholic Church patronage and will most likely transfer to the multi-denominational Educate Together schools.

The Dublin actor, Gabriel Byrne, who trained in a seminary for five years where he was sexually abused, has said the Catholic Church is a “force for evil” that once drew inspiration from Hitler’s Nazis.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has publicly stated that the Catholic Church should be more welcoming to gay men and women – despite his opposition to same-sex marriages.

Ireland’s most powerful Catholic leader has slammed abortion and euthanasia in his annual Easter address.

Once deemed the “most Catholic country,” Ireland now has a population that is struggling in their relationship with Catholicism.

The inauguration of a new pope is always a cause for great celebration in the Catholic Church, and the election of Francis I has been no exception.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley will find his reputation enhanced with Catholics and non-Catholics when he returns to Boston from the papal conclave in Rome this week.

Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has called Pope Francis a “real pastor,” who lives simply, cares for the sick and poor and keeps his distance from the military and Government.