While the date July 12 usually provokes fears about violence and sectarianism in the North of Ireland, a priest on the frontline has said this year was the “quietest ever”. Fr Gary Donegan CP, nationally renowned for his ongoing commitment to conflict resolution and peace building in the country, said that while there was some…
Two funerals of Irishmen distinguished in their fields took place over the last week: one was a large popular gathering to mark the passing of the comedian Brendan Grace, who died aged 68. His funeral Mass was held in the heart of Dublin’s Liberties area, at the Church of Nicholas Myra in Francis Street. The…
The View In her 1979 essay ‘Let Us Not Be Hypocritical’, the late Harvard professor Judith Shklar wrote that: “Hypocrisy remains the only unforgiveable sin even, perhaps especially, among those who can overlook and explain away almost every other vice.” I found myself reflecting on this idea recently, when the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, got…
An Irish nun has been congratulated by the President of Ireland for decades of work in Pakistan, and for being awarded the highest honour of St Mary’s University, Twickenham in London. Hailing from Co. Clare, Sr Berchmans Conway (89) was presented with the Benedict Medal by the Archbishop of Westminster and Chancellor of St Mary’s…
Vincent Lambert, a 42-year-old quadriplegic man, died in a French hospital last week, nine days after doctors withdrew his food and water. “Vincent died at 8.24 this morning,” Lambert’s nephew, Francois Lambert, told AFP News Agency. Lambert died on July 11 at University Hospital in the northern French city of Reims, where doctors had withdrawn his…
Pol O Muiri C.S. Lewis, Belfast man and writer, is probably best known for his fiction and his Christian apologetics. His works on Narnia have enthralled children for decades while works like Mere Christianity, have provided solace and guidance for adult readers. Narnia is, of course, a mythical and mysterious place where wondrous and unexpected…
As the world celebrates the anniversary of the moon landing people should remember the “gruesome” situation many migrants face along the Earth’s man-made borders, a leading theologian and academic has said. It was July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Prof. Eamonn…
A row has broken out between two leading scientists over whether science and religion are compatible. Prof. David McConnell, Pro-Chancellor at Trinity College Dublin, a former lecturer in genetics, has said that science has “made it difficult for many people to believe in dogmatic religion”. The honorary president of the Humanist Association of Ireland wrote…
The Venezuelan bishops asked last Thursday that president Nicolas Maduro resign from the office which he “illegitimately” exercises and that a new president be elected in the shortest time possible. “In face of the reality of an illegitimate and failed government, Venezuela is crying out for a change of direction, a return to the Constitution.…
The Catholic bishops of Haiti have announced a year of prayer and adoration for the country, which continues to face heightened tensions and instability amid calls for President Jovenel Moise to resign. “The misery has become so sharp and the insecurity so destabilising that the tree of hope has been torn from the ground,” the…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen
Chai Brady