Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown has announced the following clerical changes, which are effective this month onwards: Fr Paul Fraser is to be PP Ardstraw West & Castlederg and PP Termonamongan; while Fr Colm O’Doherty will be PP Clonleigh and Adm. Urney & Castlefin. Fr Francis Bradley, PP Buncrana and Chancellor of the Diocese of Derry,…
Personal Profile Working in South Africa for almost 50 years, a Franciscan friar has been teaching and shepherding despite many challenges, including Apartheid, in a land that is very much “missionary territory”. He taught in the National Seminary of St John Vianney in Pretoria for 35 years in total, which was difficult in several…
Mainly About Books by the books editor St Patrick is seen by many as the Apostle of Ireland – “the man who brought Christianity to or ancestors”. But one has to wonder: the process seems to have been so smooth, so easy, so without conflict, one has to ask was this the beginning of…
Making mature students feel at home Family support is very important for mature students, and with this in mind, Technological University (TU) Dublin are organising a family fun afternoon, so the family will have a chance to see some of the university and get a better understanding of the new experience. Organisers say: “Bring your…
So Everyone Can Hear: Communicating Church in a Digital Culture by Mark Crosby (SPCK, £9.99) These days the Sunday homilies, with the occasional pastoral letter from an archbishop or bishop, are not quite enough. With the clamour for attention online the need for all the churches to make their message heard in the din of current…
Dear Editor, It was hugely interesting to read in this week’s paper that numbers are up at both Lough Derg and Knock, especially in light of Archbishop Fisichella’s view that shrines can play a key role in the re-evangelisation of Christianity’s old heartlands in Europe and America (IC 22/8/2019). One might wonder too whether walking…
I’ve been awake since 2.30 this morning, when I was jolted awake to the screams of a five-year-old girl. She’d had a “very bad dream with monsters in it”. Despite hours spent comforting her, she could not easily get back to sleep, and she tossed and turned until dawn. When she at last found slumber,…
I like films where conscience is taken seriously and all the more if the film making is of high quality. Hacksaw Ridge (Channel 5 Sunday, RTÉ2 Monday) left me conflicted. It has so much good stuff going for it, but I have serious reservations. Directed by Mel Gibson it tells the true story of US Army…
During his tenure as Minister for Health, the now Taoiseach drew considerable media ire for his perceived disinterested analysis of the nation’s hospitals. One satirist dubbed him Leo ‘it was broken when I got here’ Varadkar. The Taoiseach presides over a style of governance that sees ministers as bystanders rather than the people with their…
Children’s Corner Refraction is a word that would make many people switch off instantly, it’s not something that regularly comes up in conversation – unless perhaps you were studying physics in school or university. The term is actually profoundly important and explains a natural phenomenon that everyone comes across daily. For kids, and some…
Chai Brady
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly