Pope Francis said all the speeches he has prepared for his trip to Canada “begin and end” with asking forgiveness. In an early July interview, he acknowledged the “cruel way” the Catholic Church collaborated with the Canadian government in “colonisation” by uprooting Indigenous children from their families, cultures and spiritualities and forcing them to attend…
Month: July 2022
Welcomed from persecuted China to Ireland
Liam Fitzpatrick Personal Profile Fr Yanbo Chen felt lost. Working in a job he didn’t enjoy, he turned to his faith and a few Catholic monks to provide him with guidance. The monks presented Fr Chen with a piece of paper that changed his life. “I kneeled down to prayer, and I pulled a little…
Hopkins Summer School
34th International Hopkins Festival July 22-28 2022 Newbridge College Theatre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare The Gerard Manley Hopkins International Summer School, which has been called “a bright gem in the literary world”, by Patrick Samway SJ, the American literary scholar and teacher, begins tomorrow (Friday July 22), and closes next week on 28. The details of all…
The temptations of the good person
Many of us are familiar with an often-quoted line from T.S. Eliot: “The last temptation is the greatest treason; to do the right deed for the wrong reason.” This, he suggests, is the temptation of the good person. What’s the temptation? In John’s Gospel, Jesus asks his listeners this question, “How can you believe who…
Archbishop calls Biden’s order on abortion ‘deeply disturbing’
The U.S. bishops’ pro-life chairman said it is “deeply disturbing and tragic” that President Joe Biden has chosen to use his power as the nation’s chief executive “to promote and facilitate abortion in our country” than support resources for pregnant women in need. Mr Biden is “seeking every possible avenue to deny unborn children their most basic human and…
Webb telescope ‘reveals God’s creation’ – Jesuit astronomer
Staff reporter The Jesuits at the Vatican Observatory were wowed like most people by the beauty of the photos from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, but the director said they also are excited by the scientific information the telescope will reveal. Human spirit “Such images are a necessary food for the human spirit – we…
No questions and no hunger
The Capuchin Day Centre has seen a rise in working families accessing the service, Liam Fitzpatrick learns A man stands at the door to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin, welcoming visitors, holding a surgical mask and asking no questions. Inside the Centre, Bro. Kevin Crowley offers smiles and handshakes – and still no questions.…
Developing cultures and policies to protect the planet
For the past seven months we have been exploring the Laudato Si’ Goals (LSGs) which are a blueprint for the Church community to live out the call of Laudato Si’, a roadmap towards achieving ecological sustainability. The LSGs help us to live out our vocation “to be protectors of God’s handiwork” (LS, 217). This month…
Shining a light on the darkness of trafficking
Of all the social justice issues that need attention human trafficking must surely be one of the most urgent. The issue was brought to the fore last week when athlete Mo Farah revealed that he had been trafficked into Britain at a young age. On Drivetime (RTÉ Radio One, Tuesday) presenter Cormac Ó hEadhra interviewed…
Unlikely mother and son bonding on Kerry roads
Like most road movies, Joyride (PG) involves a journey of the mind as well as the body. Olivia Colman plays the most unlikely barrister you’re ever going to see in a film. Charlie Reid is the most unlikely gynaecologist in training. Because he’s only twelve. As well as knowing more than Colman (who’s just given…




Peter Costello
Fr Ronald Rolheiser




Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone