“bad news stories can become an excuse for doing nothing”, writes Andrew O’Connell
Month: October 2015
Irish composers’ song performed at world meeting
Mags GarganCormac O’Duffy, a former teacher and graduate of UCD and UL, had his oratorio The Wedding Feast of the Lamb premiered in front of a full church at St John the Evangelist in Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families (WMOF). The work, dedicated to marriage and family, was performed by the Choirs of Villanova…
Relax – there’s no need to fear ‘synod conspiracies’
Courtney McGrail“Conspiracy theories offer easy answers by casting the world as simpler and more predictable than it is,” according to Sander van der Linden’s 2013 scientificamerican.com article ‘What a Hoax: Why people believe in conspiracy theories’, which argues that conspiracy theories’ popularity can pose a threat to societal well-being. It was somewhat reassuring, then, to learn…
Lasallian Association plan for the future
The Irish Association for the Lasallian Mission (De La Salle) held its AGM in Castletown, Portlaoise recently. Fifty school principals, teachers and others spent time together to review and plan for how best to promote its mandate of “human and Christian education”. Its president, Tom O’Neill, Waterford welcomed the gatherings from all over Ireland and…
Film about work of Belfast nun nominated for ‘Kenyan Oscar’
A documentary following the work of an Irish missionary sister supporting people with HIV/AIDS has been nominated for the Kenyan version of the Oscars. Nurtured with Love, a video on the work undertaken by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa in the Love and Hope Centre in Nakuru, Kenya, has been nominated for this year’s…
Budget is criticised for not tackling homlessness crisis
Greg DalyCampaigners have condemned the absence of concrete measures in next year’s Budget to prevent the spiralling homelessness crisis. Mike Allen, Focus Ireland’s Director of Advocacy, told The Irish Catholic that: “We were hoping there’d be measures to deal with the ever rising tide of families becoming homeless, but the Government hasn’t put in any significant…
Decentralising Church is no panacea
Michael Kelly‘Shambolic governance’ has turned this synod into what ‘resembles a medieval papal court’, writes Editor Michael Kelly
Pope Francis praises Irish Catholic book
Pope Francis has thanked the authors of a new book published by The Irish Catholic which acts as a study guide to the Pontiff’s landmark encyclical on the environment. Written by theologian Fr Eamon Conway and The Irish Catholic journalist Cathal Barry, Praise Be To You serves as a companion for readers of Laudato Si’…
Primate opposes local decision making power on Church teaching
Cathal BarryIreland’s most senior Churchman has rejected calls for more decision-making power about Church teaching to be given to local bishops’ conferences. Archbishop Eamon Martin also said he struggles to envisage how the Church could lift its ban on Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics while remaining faithful to its teachings on marriage and the Eucharist.…
Ghanaian archbishop calls for patience
Attitudes to gay people in Africa are unlikely to change overnight, even though bishops have publicly defended the inherent dignity of people with homosexual tendencies, Accra’s Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle has said. Claiming that negative attitudes against homosexuals have existed for “millennia” in Africa, the Ghanaian archbishop said “it would be a bit deceptive to think”…