A Maronite archbishop in Syria narrowly escaped death by just a few seconds when a shell crashed through his bed as he was preparing for a nap. In an email to supporters Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus said priests cried when they saw him emerge from the ruins. “Providence watches over his poor servant,” the…
The Living Gospel: Daily Devotions for Lent 2018 by Ann M. Garrido (Ave Maria Press / Alban Books, £2.99) The Feast of the Nativity just over, and the New Year hardly begun, then the mind of the Church turns towards Lent, which begins less than three weeks from now, Easter being this year on…
News In Brief The Knights of St Columbanus have asked that Pope Francis send a letter to all Irish Catholics calling for them to “defend the humanity if the unborn”. A motion to make such a request was put forward at a September meeting of the order, with Grand Knight Richard Greene saying that…
Alfie: The Life and Times of Alfie Byrne by Trevor White (Penguin Ireland, €20.00) Almost alone, Alfie Byrne survives in the larger public memory as the quintessential Lord Mayor of Dublin, almost a ‘Mr Dublin’. The chance play of politics meant that he filled the office for a decade, between the three man commission…
Weekly collection figures fell in the Archdiocese of Dublin during 2016, according to the latest diocesan figures. The newest tranche of reports from the Parishes and Charities of the Archdiocese of Dublin reveal that the diocesan Share collection dropped significantly in 2016, with family offerings to parishes and collections to support clergy also dipping in…
While we can’t build walls between people, unrestricted immigration is not an answer either, writes David Quinn Globalisation refers to the free movement of both people and goods across borders. Some people are for both types of freedom while others are for either the free movement of goods or the free movement of peoples.…
Recently I received a letter from a man who shared that he was still deeply haunted by a story he’d heard in grade-school many years before. One of his religion teachers had read them a story about a priest who went to visit a childhood friend. While staying with his friend, the priest noticed that,…
A balanced use of social media is important in developing positive mental health and good grades, a group of young student scientists discovered. Several projects in this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition focused on the growing prevalence of social media in peoples’ lives and the effect it’s having from day to day. Participants…
Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, Life President & Founder of Focus Ireland explains that while the homelessness crisis is the worst we have ever seen, the situation would be much worse without the work of Focus Ireland. She also explains how the crisis can be ended by returning to more provision of social housing… When I…
WMOF2018 Brenda Drumm As we continue with our preparations for the World Meeting of Families 2018, parishes will shortly be offering the first of six parish sessions as part of our Amoris: Let’s Talk Family, Let’s be Family programme. The first theme that parishes will be looking at is ‘The Reality of Family Life…
Greg Daly
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Chai Brady