Schools are increasingly faced with the challenge of understanding how adversity affects children’s growth, writes Bronagh Starrs Several generations ago, the school environment was a compartmentalised space where children carried their books and a simple lunch to each day – and even maybe a clod or two of turf for the fire. The world…
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising has called for change in long-standing Church tradition as the German bishops’ conference prepares for a workshop debate to “review” the issue of celibacy for priests. In his homily at New Year’s Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Munich, Cardinal Marx said the Church must,…
Catholics can’t retreat from the world, Kees de Groot tells Susan Gately The Church should not be focussed on ‘maintenance’ as an organisation, but members should try to fulfil their vocations as human beings in the world, believing the “future is in God’s hands and we are not required to save the Church”, according to…
A Nigerian priest who was kidnapped and held ransom on Christmas Eve recalled his experience at Mass last week, saying prayer is what saved him. Fr Cajetan Apeh, a recently ordained priest assigned to St Theresa’s Parish in Anam, was kidnapped along with the church’s pastor on December 24. The two priests were ambushed while…
Medical Matters Speed is of the essence when faced with a stroke. The latest figures for life expectancy in Ireland have once again improved with the average age of death for males now at 79.9 years and females 83.6 years. This puts life expectancy for males here at higher than the EU average and…
Irish Parliamentarians: deputies and senators, 1918-2018 by Anthony White (Institute of Public Administration, €60.00) Felix M. Larkin It is axiomatic that we get the politicians we deserve. We elect them, so we have nobody to blame but ourselves. However, while our politicians generally get a bad press, we in Ireland have been reasonably well served by them.…
A former head of the Philippines’ Catholic bishop’s conference has called on people to ignore President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated rants against the Church. In his New Year message, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said those who call God stupid and teach that it is useless to go to Church are “anti-Christ”. “Do not listen to…
Papal comments on the importance of countries working together “resonate strongly” with Ireland’s foreign policy, the Irish ambassador to the Holy See has said. Monday saw Pope Francis address members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Vatican, warning that the re-emergence of populist and nationalist ideologies is threatening the stability of international organisations and…
Catholic methods of examining scripture could help tackle radicalisation in Islam, a leading Jesuit academic has said, after it was revealed an Irish citizen was captured having left Ireland to fight for the so-called Islamic State, Originally from Belarus, Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev (45) was arrested by the Kurd-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) just before the…
Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain by Fintan O’Toole (Head of Zeus, £11.99) Peter Hegarty In writing his latest book, leading commentator Fintan O’Toole set himself a task: “What I have attempted here is simply one possible answer to the most obvious question: how did a great nation bring itself to the point of…
Susan Gately
Dr Kevin McCarroll
Greg Daly
Chai Brady