Paul KeenanAnticipation is building for the papal trip, writes Paul Keenan
Month: September 2015
No need for the greetings
Courtney McGrailDear Editor, May I, through the medium of your paper, appeal to all priests to stop saying “Good morning” (or “Good evening”) immediately after saying “The Lord be with you”. “The Lord be with you” is a most sublime and wonderful greeting, calling on “The Holy One of Israel” to be present with every person…
PLC sceptical of Taoiseach’s assurances
The Pro Life Campaign has said there is nothing reassuring about Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s refusal to commit to a referendum on Ireland’s constitutional protection for the unborn if Fine Gael is re-elected to government. PLC Deputy Chairperson Cora Sherlock said “The Taoiseach never actually said he was opposed to a referendum to dismantle the Eighth…
Kenya is added to Pope’s African trip
Kenya will be the first country Pope Francis will visit as part of his first Apostolic Visit to Africa, the Holy See has confirmed. The Pontiff announced his intention to visit Africa last January, stating in June that he would visit the Central African Republic and Uganda. “Accepting the invitation issued by the respective Heads…
Don’t let emotion kill Middle Eastern Christianity, warns Chaldean Church leader
The leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church has advised European countries against letting sentiment guide their reactions to the crisis in the Middle East, and asked them not to prioritise Christians when accepting refugees. The Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Louis Raphael I, has warned in an interview that there is a real risk of the…
Media Watch
At least one magazine is happy to follow Papal advice Would-be cutting edge stuff in the latest issue of The Phoenix, with the ‘Clerical Errors’ column taking a rusty scalpel to the timing of papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown’s August 22 Irish Times interview, risibly billed at the time as the nuncio’s “first Irish interview”.…
Serial abuser ex-priest dies in prison
Bill Carney, who the 2009 Murphy Report accused of having abused at least 32 children, has died in prison while awaiting trial for 34 sexual assaults between 1969 and 1989. Ordained in 1974, Mr Carney was laicised in 1992, almost a decade after the first complaints were made about him and his pleading guilty to…
Britain’s ‘right to die’ debate has a chilling tone
Michael KellyChanging legislation in Britain could prompt copycat policies in Ireland, writes Michael Kelly
Pop star priest tops Australia’s X Factor
A popular singing priest is set to wow X Factor judges Down Under this weekend after making it through the auditions to the live finals. Fr Rob Galea (32), originally from Malta, ministers in St Kilian’s in Bendingo, Victoria in Australia. No stranger to big performances, the priest plays for an average of 200,000-500,000 people each year…
Indian missionaries to boost clerical numbers in Waterford
Mags GarganThree Indian missionaries have been invited to serve in the Diocese of Waterford & Lismore this year, as Irish vocations continue to decrease. Two priests with the Heralds of Good News, a missionary society founded in India, will begin their ministry in Ireland in October and a third will follow after Christmas. Bishop Phoncie Cullinan…