Courtney McGrailVatican confirms ongoing negotiations with China Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has confirmed that the Holy See is involved in diplomatic talks with authorities in China. In the wake of concerns expressed in recent weeks by Church and lay figures in the East as to the status of Catholics in the so-called underground Church should Rome achieve an agreement…
Month: September 2016
Young Catholics need vibrant communities
Young Catholics need like-minded peers in order to survive a “toxic”, “antic-Catholic” environment writes Bro. Conor McDonough
Catholics and the Bible – take it as read
World of books
Growing up in Troubled Derry
This Man’s Wee Boy: A Childhood Memory of Peace and Trouble in Derry by Tony Doherty (Mercier Press, €12.99)
Two nuns murdered in Mississippi
A man has been arrested in the US state of Mississippi in connection with the murders of two nuns. Police have announced that Rodney Sanders will face murders charges relating to Sr Margaret Held and Sr Paula Merrill who were found stabbed in their home on August 25 The bodies of the nuns, both trained…
Denying environmental degradation akin to ‘flat Earth’ devotion
Dear Editor, Interesting that there exists in many countries branches of an organisation known as: The Flat Earth Society. They believe that it is possible to fall off the edge of the world and vanish into emptiness. They base their belief it seems, at least in part, on the Gospel instruction where the Lord commanded…
Faithfulness is no barrier to compassion
Dear Editor, Over the past couple of weeks, I have read numerous articles in relation to the recent controversy surrounding Maynooth seminary. These have included speculation regarding the priesthood and what form it should take in this time. There are some who believe that our more recently ordained priests are of a more traditional mindset…
South Africa’s new beginnings
Paul KeenanVoters have delivered a new political landscape, writes Paul Keenan
Francis says the people have spoken: ‘Two Popes are just fine’
John L. Allen Jr.Sometimes leaders learn more from crowds than from polls about how passionately people are feeling something, and in his preface to a new biography of Benedict XVI, Francis suggests crowds have taught him that ordinary Catholics are just fine with the two-Pope arrangement. Arthur Schlesinger once said that President John F. Kennedy could look at…
Birthday for Blessed Teresa
A member of the Missionaries of Charity kisses the tomb of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata on August 26 in celebration of her 106th birthday. Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, will be canonised at the Vatican on September 4. Photo: CNS