Church leaders in Bangladesh have launched a campaign to plant 400,000 trees across the country to mark the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, the golden jubilee of the country’s independence and the birth centenary of the nation’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bishops led by Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka Archdiocese inaugurated the…
As an occasional continuation of our series ‘Lockdown Reading’, this week we are publishing an appreciation of a book once very well known, but now neglected… Seán Ryan Literature can generally be broken down to two forms – the easy-reading form encompassing the popular chic-lit, page-turner form, which high brows mightn’t even concede to be…
I have just spent a very interesting afternoon with a very diverse group of people, over 350 of them! Amongst the countries represented in our group are Kenya, Peru, USA, Uganda, India, Australia, Nigeria, Philippines, Burundi, Vietnam, Pakistan, Britain, Nicaragua and Ireland! We are doing online training as Laudato Si’ Animators with the Global Catholic…
Personal Profile Fr John Bracken is the parish priest of Holy Cross Church, Dundrum, but much of his ministry is devoted to helping people look beyond his office, and that of the other clergy. “It’s one of my great annoyances, that people “see” the priest. I mean, obviously there’s a difference, but there’s not a…
Letter from Rome For all intents and purposes, as a liturgical matter Italy’s coronavirus pandemic is over as of the weekend. Beginning on Sunday, family members and friends are no longer required to observe social distancing when they come to church, and churches are once again able to have choirs at Mass and the assembly…
Sweet Treats This week’s sweet treat is a timeless classic – its bright yellow colour makes it the perfect centrepiece for your table. If you’re tight on time the pastry can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to three days. Ingredients For the pastry: 180g plain flour 55g icing sugar…
Pope baptises conjoined twins separated by Vatican’s Bambino Gesu Hospital Two conjoined twins successfully separated in June by surgeons at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospitalhave recently been baptised by Pope Francis. The Baptism of babies Ervina and Prefina at the Pope’s residence of Casa Santa Marta, was announced by Central African Republic politician, Antoinette Montaigne.…
…by far and away, the biggest addiction in the whole world The ancient Greeks had gods and goddesses for everything, including a goddess of Shame called Aidos. Shame for them meant much more than it normally means to us. In their mind, shame brought with it modesty, respect and a certain needed reticence before things…
Summer outings (No.5 in a six-part series) Today Richard Hayward’s long series of books, over seven of them, all dealing with his journeys into the four provinces and into the mind and imaginations of his countrymen, north and south, are out of print and long forgotten. An Ulster man of many parts, he died in…
Time to go and play with Lego Not many people haven’t heard of Lego, and with good reason! The age-old toy that never seems to go out of fashion will be centre stage at a family fun event in Galway next month. ‘LimBrick City’ will bring their Brick Expo on tour and visit Galway on…
Bairbre Cahill
Ruadhán Jones
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Peter Costello