Minister for Health announces the allocation strategy for COVID-19 vaccines The strategy prioritises those over the age of 65 living in long-term care facilities, frontline healthcare workers who are in direct patient contact and those aged 70 and over. Minister Stephen Donnelly also announced that there should be no barrier to people accessing a vaccine,…
Dear Editor, It was sad to hear of the closing of Clonard Monastery Confraternity for Men who are now losing ‘their sense of identity and belonging’ as Catholics. Will this leave the Catholic Church with no outreach to men at all? Men in our congregations have become almost an endangered species and as for young…
The World of Books by the Books Editor Literacy for both young and adult is an essential of social life. So these days teachers, politicians and booksellers are all agreed on the need to encourage reading. Easy enough with girls, it seems, but boys need more encouragement. So at Christmas all the deluge of new…
Normally at this time of year our parishes and churches would be abuzz with preparations for carol services. Christmas has the ability to turn the heart of even the most devoted cynic. Who can fail to be moved by the sight of wide-eyed children dressed as Mary and Joseph carrying a doll to a makeshift…
The Greatest Story Ever Told BBC 2 Sat Dec 19, 9am (1965) Max Von Sydow. From his lowly but venerated birth through his adult years as a teacher roving the Holy Land, Jesus attracts admirers and enemies unlike any man before. Sweeping cinematic retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. In concert: The King’s Singers…
Notebook Dear Santa, You were mentioned in the Dáil recently and I heard the Irish Ambassador to Finland say she had spoken to you and that you reassured her that you will be travelling this year. Good news, for sure. You are, as you told her, an “essential worker”. Locally I have heard children speak…
Demand for tickets for outstrips capacity, but those who have been longing to go for years will have a chance to participate in the famous Maynooth Christmas carol service tonight. The iconic college chapel plays host to the event, but Covid-19 pandemic restrictions means that the service will be streamed online this year on www.maynoothcollege.ie…
Benedict XVI has not lost his voice says Archbishop Gänswein Archbishop Georg Gänswein has denied media reports that Benedict XVI has lost his voice. The Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress reported December 4 that Benedict XVI’s personal secretary had confirmed that the 93-year-old Pope emeritus was still able to speak clearly. Reports had circulated in…
The hierarchy has welcomed as “encouraging news” the fact that a number of vaccines for Covid-19 “are at an advanced stage of preparation and are likely to be available for use in the near future”. They have also called on Catholics to support the vaccination programme. In a statement the Irish bishops’ conference said that…
The American international magazine Time has designated 2020 as the worst year ever. This, arguably, emblemises the mentality of ‘presentism’ – that is, the notion that what we are experiencing right now is the worst (or the best) ever, without allowing for the perspective of history. There have been many worse years: we could start…
Peter Costello
Michael Kelly
Brendan O’Regan
Mary Kenny