Spending time outdoors can make a massive difference to your life, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Do you remember how you had fun during your childhood? Is it radically different to how kids spend their leisure time today? When the older generation reflect on how they spent their youth, usually the images of hopscotch, conkers and tag…
A Tipperary priest has criticised the “national problem” of the lack of mental health support during a visit to his county by the Minister for Mental Health this week. Clonmel’s Fr Michael Toomey is on the frontline when it comes to suicide, and said that since a meeting with the Department of Health in June…
Dipping into Advent: Reflections for Advent & Christmas by Alan Hilliard (Messenger Publications, €9.95) Sacred Space: Advent & Christmas 2019-2020 by The Irish Jesuits (Messenger Publications, €4.95) Candles in the Night: The Advent Experience by Anna Burke (Veritas, €7.99/£7.00) Whatever about family feasting, fun and commercial excess, Christmas for Christians of all traditions around the…
The Tribe: The Inside Story of Irish Power and Influence in US Politics by Caitríona Perry (Gill Books, €22.99/ £19.99) Felix M. Larkin It is often said that the US is a “melting pot”, a fusion of nationalities and ethnicities – but that is true only to some extent. Many Americans, even those whose…
Everyday Philosophy Analogies are a powerful aid to the truth-seeker. By comparing two relevantly similar situations, you can move from conclusions about one to conclusions about the other. Analogies can help expose inconsistencies: (‘how would you react if these accusations were being made against Bill Clinton rather than Donald Trump?’) or to help make a…
Tensions are reportedly running high between French authorities overseeing the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, as they create plans to rebuild the church damaged by fire earlier this year. Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin and the architect on the project, Philippe Villeneuve, disagree over whether the cathedral’s new spire should look modern or medieval, the…
Everywhere in Church circles today you hear a lament: our churches are emptying. We’ve lost our youth. This generation no longer knows or understands the classical theological language. We need to announce Jesus again, as if for the first time, but how? The church is becoming evermore marginalised. That’s the situation pretty much everywhere within…
Time was when RTÉ ran its own ‘Musician of the Future’ competition. However, the scene changed with the station deciding to discontinue its involvement. This disappointed many not least Jane Carty who had a long-term commitment to the competition and other RTÉ ventures advancing the careers of young musicians. Undaunted, Ms Carty decided ‘Musician of…
Personal Profile The African Church can teach us more about Ireland than we think, Colm Fitzpatrick learns With over 30 years of missionary experience in Ghana, a Kerry-based priest believes the Irish Church can learn a lot from its African counterpart. The second eldest of eight children, Fr Patsy Lynch who serves as parish…
I am currently organising an event for my mother – or I should say in memory of my mother. Next year it will be fifty years since she died and I believe that it is important to mark that. It seems to me that the best way to do that is to gather her family,…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady
Peter Costello
Ben Conroy
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Bairbre Cahill