Every Easter I look out for some innovative religious programmes and I wasn’t disappointed this year. One of the most imaginative was Heavenly Gardens (BBC1) which had an episode for Good Friday and one for Easter Sunday. Actor and singer Alexander Armstrong along with garden designer Arit Anderson (familiar to viewers from Gardeners’ World) presented…
In what has become a tradition, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra has established Good Friday afternoon at the National Concert Hall as an occasion for Bach through either one of his two Passions or something else from the treasury of his choral works. Due to my commitment to my own church’s liturgies I have had…
Notebook What strange times we’re in! Because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, many of the institutions that make up our daily landscape are now lying quiet: churches, banks, GAA clubs, offices and schools. But at the same time another social institution is bustling and draws nearly all our attention: the hospital. In these times…
“Easter glory fills the sky” were the words of the hymns proclaimed at many livestreamed Masses on Sunday. We’ve heard it again and again down the years and the rousing words gladden the heart. But, it’s a very different Easter this year and there is no mistaking the fact that the joy of the resurrection…
The cover of Prof. Fr Thomas O’Loughlin’s new book Eating Together, Becoming One (reviewed in our issue of April 2) carries an image that very powerfully evoked themes that the author has explored as an historian and theologian. As a cover image it lost some of its impact as a work of art. In this…
Chinese Catholics provide food to Covid-19 hit Flippinos More than €75,000 was collected by Catholics in China and donated to the Philippines to buy rice and other food for the poor in Manila. Many of those in the slum area of the city are jobless, with no income and hungry due to a government-imposed lockdown…
Dear Editor, I was not surprised by the announcement that Cardinal George Pell’s conviction of sexual abuse of minors in the 1990s was quashed by the Australian Supreme Court. Fr Brendan Purcell, who spoke to your paper about it [IC 09/04/2020], hit the nail on the head when he criticised the “disaster” of a judicial…
Passing time with trad If you’re a lover of traditional music, this might be for you. TG4, has a free online player that has a huge amount of Irish music. There are live concerts, programmes and box sets of the series they show on TV. Now would be a brilliant time to practice Irish together…
Róise McGagh Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All-Ireland has issued a hopeful message for the people of Ireland after the announcement of extended coronavirus restrictions until May 5. In his Easter message the archbishop shared a memory of his mother, “leaving a basin of water out in the back yard on a bright Easter…
Róise McGagh Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan walked through an empty Waterford City yesterday morning carrying a large cross over his shoulder in commemoration of Good Friday. He invited people to take out their own cross, crucifix or light a candle and spend some time in silent prayer. “Some people stopped some knelt, there is something about…
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly
Peter Costello