The Legacy of Irish Missionaries Lives On by Matt Moran (OnStream, €15.00) With the apparent decline of priestly vocations, the nature of Irish missionary movement has changed. I say apparent because in reality it may be that the call that was responded to in the past still exists, it is merely that the responses to…
The World of Books Every summer some 700,000 people come together in the Breton town of Lorient for the Festival Interceltique, which sees a gathering not just of musicians and singers, but also poets, writers, and community leaders from the Celtic fringe of Western Europe, from Galicia to Galloway. But in all this feast of…
“…one single issue should be reviewed seriously, I believe. And that is the ban on contraception”, writes Mary Kenny The former abbot of Glenstal, Fr Mark Patrick Hederman, has suggested that the Church’s teachings on sexuality need to be dramatically modernised, and he has provided a list for this agenda including celibacy and the subjugation…
Maynooth deanery offer Confession in empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre An initiative of the Maynooth deanery saw an empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre become a buzz of sacred activity on Holy Saturday, with local priests answering Pope Francis’ call for outreach. From noon until 5.30pm the bare retail unit was transformed…
Staff reporter About half of the current seven vacancies in the Irish hierarchy will likely be filled by candidates proposed by the outgoing Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, according to Vatican sources. Currently there are seven of Ireland’s 26 dioceses awaiting the appointment of a new bishop. Sources in Rome this week indicated to The…
Dear Editor, I welcome the contribution which The Irish Catholic is making to the mission of the laity with Greg Daly’s article (IC 23/03/2017). It would be good to hear more on the topic of lay-led liturgies. It was pointed out in his well-researched article, it is fraught with difficulties if not approached from a…
The heart has its reasons, says Pascal, and sometimes those reasons have a long history. Recently I signed a card for a friend, a devout Baptist, who was raised to have a suspicion of Roman Catholics. It’s something he still struggles with; but, don’t we all! History eventually infects our DNA. Who of us is…
About Being Normal: My life in Abnormal Circumstances by Desmond Fennell (Somerville Press, €20.20 / £17.00) This memoir provides an interesting account of the life and writings of Desmond Fennell, who has long been a striking voice in modern Ireland. Fennell was born in Belfast in 1929. After attending the Christian Brothers’ O’Connell School and…
Joe Carroll Nothing Is Written In Stone: The Notebooks of Justin Keating Edited by Barbara Hussey and Anna Kealy (Lilliput Press, €20.00) Justin Keating intended to write a autobiography, but died in 2009 on the eve of his 80th birthday leaving eight handwritten notebooks. His second wife, Barbara Hussey, and Anna Kealy have done their…
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made waves this week with a blistering statement about reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in a recent attack on a rebel stronghold, calling it “brutal, unabashed barbarism.” Tillerson’s rhetoric raised eyebrows, given that just last week, during a visit to Turkey, Tillerson had said…
Mary Kenny
Mags Gargan
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
John L. Allen Jr.