Niall O'Dowd: Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, has spoken out on the need for Catholic and Anglican dialogue. That all sounds very reasonable, but Williams is head of the Established Church which stopped at nothing in its day to end Catholicism as we now know it. They made Pope Benedict's efforts to win over Anglicans look like a child's tea party. Today's Anglicans may well be saying why "can't we all get along" but their predecessors were utterly savage in their fury towards Catholics.

A $2 million dollar study commissioned by Roman Catholic Bishops at the height of the Church’s sexual abuse scandal in the U.S. has found no connection between sexual orientation and abuse of children by clergy.

Niall O'Dowd: "2012," the new blockbuster movie from director Roland Emmerich about the end of the world, is clearly anti-Catholic. It stars Irish-American actor John Cusack, who is obviously along for the payday. | WITH TRAILER

An Irish-born Archbishop has been suspended by the Vatican over an allegation that he carried on a 20-year relationship with a woman that began when she was only 14. The archbishop is currently said to be in the U.S. and once served in New Jersey.

His late Dad may have made a peace of sorts with his beloved Catholic Church by admitting to Pope Benedict XVI that "I am not a perfect man," but Sen. Edward Kennedy's youngest son is beating the war drums.

Niall O'Dowd: What is the difference between Roman Polanski and a Catholic priest child abuser? A Roman collar and an extraordinary media bias, I'd say.

The father of a Belfast man who was murdered by a Loyalist paramilitary group in 1997 has secured his plea to have a U.S. congressional hearing into his son’s murder next month.

It is 30 years to the day since Pope John Paul II visited Ireland in a three-day visit that brought the country to a standstill. Nearly 3 million people turned out to welcome the Pontiff at five venues; Dublin, Drogheda, Galway, Limerick and Knock. The numbers were phenomenal when you consider that the population of the Republic was 3,368,217 in 1979.

Bono is set to meet Pope Benedict XVI this November. The U2 frontman and humanitarian has been chosen along with over 500 other artists to meet with the Holy Father at the Vatican.

Father Tim: This is how great Irish jokes, as well as great children, are born. Roman Catholic couples should pray together before they have sex, says a new book published by a prominent Church group. It invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed "Prayer Before Making Love."

Tony Blair says his wife Cherie made him a Catholic. Speaking in Italy on Sunday, the former British Prime Minister said: "Frankly this all began with my wife.

Senator Edward Kennedy spoke from beyond the grave last night at Arlington national cemetery. Reading from a letter that Kennedy had sent to the Pope in July; Cardinal Theodore McCarrick revealed just how strong Ted Kennedy's Catholic faith was.

"Most Holy Father I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health."

A prominent Irish priest has called on the Catholic Church to halt recruitment of new priests until they properly address Ireland’s clerical child abuse controversy.

The late conservative columnist and TV host Bob Novak was a highly unlikely convert to Catholicism, but in 1998 the Jewish reporter who died of a brain tumor on Tuesday did just that at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Washington.

The surname Curran is common in all four provinces in Ireland, but especially in County Donegal and throughout Ulster. The name is also prevalent in the south of Ireland, appearing many times in the County Tipperary Hearth Money Rolls of 1665-7. Currans showed up frequently as Waterford residents in the census of 1659.

The O'Carrolls go back to the third century King Oilioll Olum of Munster. Their name derives from Cearbhaill, who was the Brian Boru in 1014 at the battle of Clontarf. Cearbhaill means warlike champion and the O'Carrolls have lived up to the name.

The Irish government designated May 17, 2009 as the first National Famine Memorial Day. On that day, Irish people throughout the world remembered and honored the victims of Ireland’s Great Hunger

Holy God! The Catholic Church has given two big thumbs-up to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." This is a huge coup for the Potter producers given that the Vatican had previously accused the movies of promoting witchcraft and the occult.

The new culture minister for Northern Ireland is a man with a very limited view of Irish culture. He will not attend Catholic mass as it is against his religion and his knowledge of sports in the six counties is confined to lacrosse and squash. He is unfamiliar with the Irish language and did not know that one of his county's teams - Tyrone - are the all-Ireland GAA champions!

A prominent clergyman in the West of Ireland has revealed that Irish priests are literally dying off, and that the Catholic faith in Ireland will soon be ministered by a country of old men.

A religious watchdog organization in the U.S. has stated it is planning to release an American equivalent of Ireland’s Ryan report on child abuse at Catholic Church-run institutions.

Cardinal Sean Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said Pope Benedict XVI was "very distressed" after their briefing on the Ryan Report and the state of the Church in Ireland after its publication.

Father Tim: This is Pope Benedict's moment Niall O'Dowd: We need more than his blessings Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and

THE report of the Commission on Child Abuse makes clear the depravity and monstrous behaviour of the Catholic Church. They stole, lied and terrorised. They assaulted children. They scalded them, flogged them and . . . raped them. Sometimes, the children were gang-raped. The holy men and women locked children up for days in tiny rooms, cupboards and pig sties. One recalls being bitten by rats during his incarceration.

Protestant supporters of a Scottish soccer team beat to death a Roman Catholic man in the latest sign of how sports rivalries inspire sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland.

Conor O'Clery: It is a measure of how out of touch the Irish government is with public opinion that Catholic bishops have been more aggressive than government ministers in taking on the religious orders over compensation for abuse victims.

Ireland is known for sweeping its scandals under the carpet, but the truth always outs in the end, as today's troubling news has proved. Here's a list of the top five Irish scandals of the past three decades, some serious, others less so. Many of them involve the country's leaders and many, strangely, occurred on the "Late Late Show," the nation's long-running chat television program.

After the great famine devastated Ireland, the Catholic Church moved quickly to tighten its grip on the population. Millions had fled or starved and those left were incredibly demoralized. There was also an incredible sense of guilt concerning what had transpired over the Famine and a sense that the Irish people as a whole were doomed.

“Angels & Demons”, Dan Brown’s flashy sequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” is directed at a breakneck speed by director Ron Howard for good reason – if you actually stopped to think about what you’re were looking at you’d probably leave the cinema long before the closing credits.

Queen Elizabeth slipped into Northern Ireland this week and met the Irish rugby team and President Mary McAleese during her stay. It may seem rather silly really that she can come to Northern Ireland, but dare not cross the border because of the old antagonisms of history and fears that Dublin will riot. But I think it is right. As long as the British head of state can only be from the Church of England then they should steer clear of Ireland.

Irish actor and “In Treatment” star Gabriel Byrne has revealed was physically abused by Catholic priests as a child, but he doesn’t blame them – he blames their celibacy.

The new Tom Hanks movie, 'Angels & Demons' is the subject of a ferocious assault by Catholic League president, Bill Donohue

The Irish nun known as 'Mother Teresa of Philly' made No 49 on Time's 100 Most Influential People beating out Oprah, the Pope and Hillary Clinton. Bono didn't even make the cut!

New York will only embrace its new Archbishop if he is himself. But he's off to a good start.

The controversy over the University of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at its commencement heated up as the college president defends his decision in a letter to university trustees.

Thousands of children were abused by Catholic priests in Ireland over a 30-year period, a shocking report on clerical sex abuse is set to reveal. Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin warned that a massive investigation of Dublin will find children were subjected to horrific attacks between 1975 and 2004. He warned that the full horror of years of physical, sexual and psychological torture has not been recognized.

A luxury hotel manager has been fired for telling an Irish Catholic employee to clean his forehead on Ash Wednesday.

Embattled Bishop of Cloyne John Magee, a former secretary to three Popes who is at the center of controversy over his handling of child abuse cases, has resigned from the day-to-day running of his diocese. The administration of the diocese has been taken over, on Pope Benedict’s direct order, by the

A victim of clerical sexual abuse by an Irish priest 40 years ago may be the first person to hold the Vatican responsible.     The

"How the Irish Saved Civilization" author Thomas Cahill takes a brief, penetrating look at one of the world's most beloved popes in "Pope John XXIII." The pope served only from 1958 to 1963, yet set in motion some of the most far-reaching reforms the Catholic Church has ever seen. ($19.

Before Emmett Till was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for being black, and before Leo Frank was lynched in Atlanta in 1913 for being Jewish, two Irish Catholic immigrants in Boston, in 1805, were victims of an angry city. Dominic Daley and James Halligan were traveling from Boston to New York City. Around this time, a man named Marcus Lyon was robbed and murdered along the path traveled by Daley and Halligan.

An Irish-American woman recently told her personal story of family and perseverance: "Circling My Mother" by Mary Gordon, one of the great chroniclers of Catholic America. Gordon's mother Anne died in 2002, and the writer explores the world of blue-collar ethnic Catholicism which shaped her and also left an indelible mark on her daughter Mary. Gordon's work can seem harsh, but here, her words are imbued with wisdom, love and compassion.

JAMES Carroll, 65, noted author, National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe, has recently completed a powerful new documentary film entitled Constantine's Sword in which he examines the roots of religiously inspired violence in the world.

Working with Oscar nominated director Oren Jacob, Carroll explores the centuries long history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church and its corollary in America's evangelical movement.

The new film, which is based on Carroll's 2001 book of the same name, details centuries of ruthless violence committed in Christianity's name.

CATHOLICS in New York, 1808-1946 is the name of a remarkable exhibition currently on view at the Museum of the City of New York. The exhibition traces the rise of New York Catholics (and Irish America plays a prominent role) from their start as a small religious minority to the politically powerful group they eventually became.

Coinciding with the Archdiocese of New York's bicentennial celebration, although curated independently of it, the exhibition explores Catholic life in the city and the development of the church from the early days when it faced down nakedly anti-Catholic bigotry, to the mid-20th century when acceptance and full participation in civic life was finally attained.

In her new book Being Catholic Now, activist Kerry Kennedy interviews 37 prominent Catholics (many of them Irish American) to discover what being Catholic means to this generation of followers. Kennedy tells CAHIR O'DOHERTY how her faith as a Catholic, which she learned as a child in the center of America's royal family, has carried her through all the heartbreak that have haunted the Kennedys over the years.

GROWING up in a house and family affected by great loss, it's no surprise to discover that for Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert Kennedy, her Catholicism has been a well of strength and solace for decades.

When Sony BMG Records scoured Europe for clergymen with the talent to record a new album, word of mouth eventually led them to three priests in two tiny Northern Ireland villages. A $2 million recording contract followed and The Priests were born. CAHIR O'DOHERTY talks to Father Eugene O'Hagan, one of the group's members.

POPE Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. encountered strong protests before it had even begun this week.

Andrew Greeley Catholic priest, sociologist, prodigious writer on many things Irish is back with another Nuala Anne McGrail mystery, "Irish Crystal." This time around, Nuala's husband Dermot has a dream of impending doom, and Greeley sets about throwing something into the mix for every reader. Homeland Security agents may want to deport Nuala.

The Book of Mychal: The Surprising Life and Heroic Death of Father Mychal Judge

Father Mychal Judge became such a symbol of hope and sacrifice amidst the suffering of September 11, that he has been discussed as a future saint in the Roman Catholic Church. As New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly - who has just written a fascinating biography of Judge's life and death - has said: Judge would probably consider sainthood a demotion. The point, of course (as made clear in Daly's book), is that Judge lived the kind of life he did not because he some day wanted to be canonized, but because he believed good works to be their own reward.