God, it seems, favours the powerless, the unnoticed, children, babies, outsiders and refugees with no resources or place to go. That’s why Jesus was born outside the city, in a stable, unnoticed, outside all fanfare, away from all major media and away from all the persons and events that were deemed important at the time,…
The beatifications of 19 martyrs in Algeria will be a “great joy” to the Church and will help unite Christians and Muslims of the country, said a French-Algerian archbishop. The beatifications represent “hope for the future” rather than a “complaint about the past”, said Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers, the largest city in the North…
I watched an ad today on Facebook. The ad was meant to be on TV but it has been banned. Why? It is considered to be too political. The ad, ‘There is an orangutan in my bedroom’, is a beautifully animated piece which explores the destruction of the jungles where orangutans live. The land is cleared…
Waterford and Lismore’s Bishop Phonsie Cullinan will consult with the Vatican before moving forward with the first stages of the canonisation cause of a well-loved Waterford priest. November 28 saw 104 people from three parishes meeting at Clonmel’s Hotel Minella to share stories about Fr Colm O’Brien, who died of cancer in 2009, aged just…
In a response to Katherine Zappone’s letter about the Mother and Baby Homes Pope Francis has suggested that the Government also accept their role in the controversy. During the Pope’s visit in August for the World Meeting of Families the Minister for Children spoke to Francis and wrote to him about the institutions, asking the…
We need to make the Church more welcoming to those who acknowledge the beauty of her teachings as well as those who struggle with it, writes Karl Miller At 15, I was active in high school ministry and discerning a place in the priesthood. At 16, I had my first sexual experience with another…
Youth Space Our faith calls us to set the world on fire, writes Blánaid ní Bhraonáin A few weeks ago, a group of young adults from around Ireland joined a pilgrimage to Rome with the theme ‘Our Upward Call’. The trip was organised by the community of Dominican Sisters of St Cecelia. In 2016, four…
Vatican announces historic papal trip to UAE Pope Francis will visit the United Arab Emirates next year, becoming the first Pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the Vatican has announced. In a statement on December 6, the Vatican said the Pope will “participate in the International Interfaith Meeting on ‘Human Fraternity’” after receiving an invitation by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,…
As scandalous headlines go it’s hard to compete with ‘nuns spend $500,000 school donations in Casino’. While the secular media is having a field day reporting the details of the story and anti-Church commentators are dining out on the added discomfort and embarrassment to Catholics, the scandal is only compounded by the fact that the…
I used to think we got Christmas all wrong in Ireland. Now I am beginning to think we get it very right (from the perspective of my rural parish, at least). I must be mellowing. Mind you, Christmas does seem to start earlier and earlier. A friend in the trade assures me that the reason…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Bairbre Cahill
Greg Daly
Chai Brady
Michael Kelly