The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. If you have access to a streamed Mass this Sunday, you will notice that we have returned to the green vestments of Ordinary Time. Green is the colour of growth and we can call it the default colour of the year when our journey is inspired by…
There is no simple or singular story of the treatment of unmarried mothers in mother and baby homes and county homes. At the outset, I acknowledge that many former residents reject the use of the word ‘home’. The report of the commission investigating the treatment of the mothers and their children in the period from…
Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians Ancient people brought the plague to Siberia about 4,400 years ago, which may have led to a collapse in the region’s population, new genetic analysis suggests. Evolutionary geneticists Gülşah Merve Kilinç and Anders Götherström, both of Stockholm University, led a team which extracted DNA from the remains…
Sainthood cause of priest imprisoned by Nazis and communists advances The sainthood cause of a Catholic priest who was imprisoned by both the Nazis and the communists has advanced with the conclusion of the initial diocesan phase of the cause January 4. Fr Adolf Kajpr was a Jesuit priest and journalist who was imprisoned in…
Bono was sitting beside Sophia Loren on a plane once when a lightning bolt flashed through the sky. She leapt into his arms in terror. “Don’t worry,” the U2 frontman assured her, “That’s just God taking your photograph.” It’s hard to believe the 86-year-old star is still acting. The term “living legend” is over-used but…
Well, 2021 came in with a bang, what with rapid escalation of Covid-19 infection rates, continuing upheaval in US politics and a rare apology from RTÉ. Vocation story In this context, I enjoyed listening to the more relaxed discussions on The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio 1, Friday). Michael Comyn spoke to Dr Dermot Farrell,…
Dear Editor, I am a very regular RTÉ viewer and a supporter for years. I have enjoyed many beautiful programmes over the Christmas season – and even watched repeats, with great pleasure! However, I must object in the strongest possible way, to the sick joke re ‘God’s rape’ of an individual on NYE. I had…
Notebook On Saturday evening I felt a sadness in my heart. I knew it was around going to an empty church to celebrate Mass as I have done for much of the past nine or ten months. It is not the ideal, and like many, I have questioned the need, given that our churches are…
Church leaders and religious orders have apologised for the “long-lasting hurt and emotional distress” survivors and all affected by the Mother and Baby homes have experienced. The Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, welcomed the report and said in a statement we must continue “reaching out to those whose personal testimonies are central to this…
There is no simple or singular story of the treatment of unmarried mothers in mother and baby homes and county homes. At the outset, I acknowledge that many former residents reject the use of the word ‘home’. The report of the commission investigating the treatment of the mothers and their children in the period from…
Michael Kelly
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan
Ruadhán Jones