As Whitcomb reminds us in the comments below, this weekend saw Catholic-related news that should concern us all: the uptick in violence in Northern Ireland (I recently blogged on Ian Paisley’s reaction to what was happening even before this past weekend).

"Worst rioting in years" is what this BBC article says:

NI Police Chief blames Orangemen:

Northern Ireland police chief Sir Hugh Orde said officers were attacked with explosives and shot at.

He said the Orange Order must bear "substantial responsibility" for the rioting over the Whiterock parade.

The clashes continued into early Sunday morning, and disturbances broke out in several towns in County Antrim.

Police said cars were hijacked and roads blocked in Ballyclare, Glengormley, Rathcoole, Larne and Carrickfergus.

DUP leader Ian Paisley blamed the Parades Commission for not reviewing the route that barred it from a nationalist area.

The parade was re-routed to avoid the mainly nationalist Springfield Road area.

From the Financial Times:

Meanwhile, those familiar with the negotiations say the IRA leadership and its quartermasters are at an advanced stage in the collection and storing of weapons and explosives on both sides of the Irish border.

Discreet contacts are continuing between IRA intermediaries and General John de Chastelain’s independent International Decommissioning Commission. This would pave the way for disarmament of the IRA so that it would no longer have the capacity to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack. A high-level Sinn Féin source said that although loyalist violence risked provoking an armed reaction, the main IRA leadership had secured the backing of the bulk of republicans for the ending of its armed campaign. The republican movement’s participation in the political process has already secured Sinn Féin significant electoral gains, north and south of the border.

"There will be a definite end to arms and we are talking weeks, not months," said the official.

The UK and Irish governments and the IRA have agreed that the "final act" of decommissioning be witnessed by two clergymen, one Protestant and one Catholic, to win trust across the sectarian divide.