Parents are relying on loan sharks to stave off Christmas debts, The Irish Catholic has learned. Although the festive holiday can be an expensive time of year, a well-known charity has revealed that parents are depending on extortionate money lenders to pay for Christmas expenses. According to Michael Deehan, who is based in one of…
A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police have said. The shooting occurred just as parishioners from Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral in Campinas, near Sao Paulo, were leaving a midday Mass. “I conducted the Mass at 12.15, at the…
Our regular reviewers provide some choices of what were the best, or at least for them, the most interesting, books of the year in 2018 ANTHONY REDMOND The well-known writer and educator, Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ, died from cancer in November 2015. Thomas G. Casey, an Irish Jesuit priest who knew Fr Gallagher,…
100 years on.. Catholic voters had to wait a fortnight to learn the results of the 1918 election, writes Gabriel Doherty Following several months of feverish military and political activity, punctuated by a series of authentically earth-shattering events, The Irish Catholic, in its number for the week ending Saturday, December 21, 1918, registered a sudden…
Fr Bernard Healy One of the beauties of our Faith is that it makes itself at home in every nation and culture. Whilst we all celebrate the same Christmas, we do so differently depending on the traditions and circumstances of our own place. One of my favourite Roman traditions is that of the Zampognari…
Dear Editor, The news that the Religious Sisters of Charity refuse to say whether or not they are acting in line with Church law in giving away Church property (IC 13/12/2018) is staggering. The sisters’ refusal to answer your utterly reasonable questions – refusal to say whether they have considered canon law or sought permission…
A well-known Belfast priest has been honoured for services to the community by Queen’s University Belfast. Fr Gary Donegan, who is best known for his community and peacebuilding work in North Belfast’s Ardoyne area, was awarded an honorary degree by the university last Thursday. The Passionist priest, who was born in Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh, and…
Be a voice for society’s unwanted Pope tells media Catholic media have a responsibility to be “spiritual antennas” that connect the world to the sufferings of the poor and the unwanted in society, especially prisoners on death row, Pope Francis has said. During an audience with journalists and collaborators of Telepace, an Italian Catholic television and radio station, the Pope encouraged them to…
Matinee: Gandhi RTÉ1, Saturday, December 22, 12.55 pm (1982) Director. Richard Attenborough. Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud. Gandhi’s character is fully explained as a man of nonviolence. Through his patience, he is able to drive the British out of the subcontinent. Life On The Rock EWTN, Saturday, December 22, 3.30 pm Pat Kenny discusses the extraordinary…
Even in a country like Ireland where the story of the Nativity is well known, the humble narrative of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem still has the power to captivate the imagination. All but the most jaded and cynical of post-Catholics surely cannot find themselves unmoved at the thought of the Virgin Mary hearing the message…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly