The View One of the pleasures of an older family house is that occasionally one may go rummaging in drawers, boxes and old suitcases and find something interesting, unusual or exciting. Two weeks ago, I pulled a small painting on a wooden block out of a drawer. It depicted a winter scene in the Dutch…
Mass was recently offered atop Skellig Michael for “a renewal of the faith in the hearts of all those in our hallowed land,” according to the event organiser, David O’Donnell. The third century Monastic site saw nine priests concelebrate the Mass and pray an informal consecration of Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the…
A Catholic diocese announced last Wednesday that kidnappers had freed a priest seized in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region. In a statement circulated September 1, Fr Sebastine Sinju, chancellor of the Diocese of Mamfe, said that Msgr Julius Agbortoko Abbor was released without payment of a ransom, reported ACI Africa. “After three days in captivity, we are glad…
Peter J. Drumm, First Professor of Biochemistry at University College Cork by Ned Barrett (Clogher Historical Society, €15.00; Clogher Historical Society, St Macartan’s College, Mullaghmurphy, Monaghan; ; info@clogherhistory.ie) Peter J. Drumm was born in Drumod, Co. Monaghan, on October 24, 1898. He attended Derrygooney National School and was a boarder at St Macartan’s College in Monaghan Town from…
Letter from America Mark Pattison The United States last declared war nearly 80 years ago in the conflict known as World War II. Afterward, there were several wars fought that weren’t declared as such. Some ended successfully from a military standpoint: the 1983 invasion of Grenada, a 135-square-mile island in the Caribbean that was set…
A Parent’s Perspective I’m definitely not the only mother who feels a bit sad and weepy at the prospect of a return to some semblance of pre-Covid normality. It’s not that I don’t relish a return to normal life but I’m really going to miss having my two eldest daughters at home all the time.…
Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded ‘not guilty’ September 3 to several charges of sexual assault, while appearing for the first time in a Massachusetts court. McCarrick, 91, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, incidents which allegedly took place in the 1970s. Each of the…
By the Books editor A little while ago, from a book picked up in my book-hunting rambles, I plucked a leaflet on Choosing pupils for The School around the Corner. This was once among the most popular programmes that Radió Éireann (as the single national station was then called) ever broadcast. Some reflections on it may…
The Anglican bishop of Ebbsfleet stepped down from office after announcing that he will become a Roman Catholic. The resignation of Bishop Jonathan Goodall was announced by Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury in a September 3 statement released by Lambeth Palace. Bishop Goodall is a former ecumenical secretary to a previous archbishop of Canterbury…
Parishioners must be trained and prepared in innovative ministries to keep parishes alive, the new bishop of Ferns tells Chai Brady Every diocese has a unique set of challenges but there is a “definite trend” all are experiencing in Ireland which is the continued decrease in priestly vocations, with the new Bishop of Ferns saying…
Maria Byrne
Peter Costello
Chai Brady