A Parent’s Perspective In 1534, during a dialogue with his daughter on the subject of conscience, St Thomas More said: “I never intend, God being my good Lord, to pin my soul to another man’s back, not even the best man that I know this day living: for I know not where he may…
Pro-life campaigners have reacted with scepticism to the SDLP’s decision to retain its pro-life policy while allowing members to campaign for pro-choice policies. The party decided at a conference on Saturday to adopt a formal position of being pro-life, but with individual members allowed to choose their own stance on abortion as a matter of…
Fr Bernard Healy This Easter, as the deacon read St Luke’s account of how the women brought spices to Our Lord’s tomb on the first Easter morning, something popped into my mind. I was reminded of a radio documentary from the RTÉ website called ‘Con Carey and the Twelve Apostles’. Con was a 69-year…
Sometimes it seems to me that the referendum on the Eighth Amendment is about more than just abortion. Of course, primarily it is, but there are other significant strands. This struck me particularly listening to the interview with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Today With Seán O’Rourke last Friday. When ‘yes’ campaigners are asked some…
Pat O’Kelly The NCH’s 2017/18 International Concert Series is coming to a close. One programme remains on June 12 – the first visit here of the Würth Philharmonic with Russian-born violinist Maxim Vengerov as both soloist and conductor. The principal works are Max Bruch’s evergreen 1st Concerto and Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, which almost tops…
Theologians and those who reflect on religion and culture often ponder to what extent Catholicism was actually ever deeply embedded in the Irish psyche. This is not an issue about religious practice or the dominant position of the Church in Irish society. Fr Oliver Rafferty SJ has observed that during the 1950s – thought by…
The founder of the suicide prevention charity Pieta House has said it is important to remember the human stories behind mental health statistics. New figures have revealed that almost 17,000 children between five and 17 are waiting over a year to see a psychologist. The charity’s founder Joan Freeman said that many parents and children…
WMOF A Diocese of Meath parish is creating hype for ‘The Big Parish Picnic’ to attract families from across the diocese, in preparation for the World Meeting of Families (WMOF). Kinnegad Parish in Westmeath hope to bring families together to eat, play and learn about how best to look after the local environment. A…
You are always in the middle of something critical when you get ‘the call from school’. A surgeon might be about to make that vital incision when his mobile will bring with the news that a kid has a high temperature. A footballer might be about to score the winning goal in the FA Cup…
Well-known church reopens Knock Parish Church and Apparition Chapel reopened on Friday, May 18, after having been closed for months for refurbishment works. Both the church and Apparition Chapel have been closed since last October to make way for complete refurbishment. Speaking about the refurbishment, Fr Richard Gibbons, PP, Rector of Knock Shrine said: “The Parish Church…
Maria Byrne
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady