Brendan O’ReganIt’s all about The Narrative – you know, the version of a story carefully spun to suit somebody’s agenda, gleefully swallowed by the unthinking and enhanced by a trip to Outrage Factory. And so it was with the symphysiotomy controversy. For the last few years this child birth intervention was seen as ‘barbaric’, ‘torture’ and…
Month: December 2016
A mixed grill of pre-Christmas treats on the big screen
Aubrey MaloneHow can one explain the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the recent American election by a man with so many disgraceful characteristics as Donald Trump unless, as has been suggested, she herself was so passionately disliked by large sectors of the population? One wit suggested Donald Duck could even have beaten her. In the aftermath…
Pear and apple chutney – a mature choice!
Erin FoxThe Christmas holidays wouldn’t be complete without a cheeseboard and home-made chutneys served with cold meats and pates. Home-made chutney is so much tastier than anything you can buy in the shop. Last year I experimented with three different chutneys and the house was filled with Christmassy spice smells. This recipe will make three 350ml…
Learning every day
Paul KeenanFr Bryan Shortall OFM Cap shares his path to priesthood with Paul Keenan
Dad’s Diary
Ireland’s recent rugby victory in Chicago over the All Blacks prompted me to get back in touch with a good old Kiwi friend for some banter. However, a search of Facebook yielded only a memorial page for someone with the same name, who looked disturbingly like him. A Google search revealed the tragic story of…
Ancient Christian texts lost to ISIS vandalism in Iraq
Courtney McGrailThe burning of historic and irreplaceable Christian texts is among reports of the damage inflicted on the ancient Syriac Catholic Mar Behnam monastery in Iraq following its liberation from so-called Islamic State (ISIS). Troops led by the Christian Babylon Brigades reached the site in the town of Khidir Ilyas last week as the advance against…
Superstitition
William RevilleWe can all remember the nursery rhyme about magpies: “One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told”. Seeing a lone magpie brings bad luck, seeing groups predicts the future. Most of us are superstitious to…
Pom pom tree to create a festive air
December is here and the excitement for Christmas has well and truly kicked in. It might still be too early to put the tree up, but you can keep your Christmas spirit satisfied by making homemade decorations while you wait. You can ‘cheat’ and make a miniature tree to gaze at while you are waiting…
Fidel Castro, the communist leader who received three Popes
Inés san Martín Fidel Castro, Cuba’s communist leader who died on November 25 at the age of 90, was by far the most dominant figure in Cuba’s one-party state which he ruled with an iron fist for almost five decades before handing over the powers to his brother Raúl in 2008. A hero to the left across the…
Hoping for ‘Cuba Libre’
Cuban expatriates hoping for a new chapter of freedoms in their country celebrate the death of Fidel Castro in Little Havana, a neighbourhood of Miami, November 26. Castro, who seized power in a 1959 revolution and governed Cuba until 2006, died November 25 at the age of 90. Photo: CNS