The Irish Franciscans announced on Tuesday that they’re withdrawing from Athlone in response to ageing and reduced membership. The friars and staff will be leaving Athlone on January 6, 2023, with a final Mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in Athlone friary church on Sunday, January 8. Minister Provincial Fr Aidan McGrath OFM said that the…
Fear is a fact of life but our faith equips us to deal with it well, writes Jason Osborne We’re fast approaching the time of year when children will be donning every kind of costume under the sun and taking to the streets as darkness descends to scare people into giving them sweets. For many…
Lydia: A Story by Paula Gooder (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99 / €19.99) A couple of weeks ago, over a Saturday lunch, we were discussing with a friend in her large rural garden, the question of those recent novels which mix history and fiction. The case in point was Colm Tobin’s book on Thomas Mann. I…
Paul Francis Spencer C.P. Mission Sunday Supplement At the heart of the mission of the Passionists is the conviction that the Passion of Christ is, in the words of our founder St Paul of the Cross, “the greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love.” Passionist Missionaries from Ireland have worked in many countries, including…
Fifty years ago, on an overcast, cold, Autumn day in the gymnasium of the local public high school, I was ordained to the priesthood. Beyond the grey sky, another thing marked the event. This was a tender season for my family and me. Both our parents had died (and died young) within a year and…
Catholic bishops in the southern Indian state of Kerala expressed shock over the human sacrifice of two women as part of a ritual to gain wealth and prosperity. Fr Jacob G. Palakkappilly, spokesman for the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, said the incident, which came to light October 11, has shaken the collective consciousness of Indian…
For opera aficionados at home and abroad October means only one thing – Wexford Festival. The brainchild of local general practitioner and music lover Dr Tom Walsh (1911-1988), and on the go since 1951, the now expanded event brings three neglected operas to the town’s Theatre Royal under artistic director Rosetta Cucchio. With its policy…
Cardinal: Church in Asia must be ‘prophetic’ and ‘relevant’ The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences must restructure itself to make the Church “relevant and responsive” to the people of Asia, a top-ranking cardinal said. Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, a member of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, stressed there was a great need to restructure…
It’s awful when it happens but last week’s news and current affairs programming was dominated by funerals. For the media it was a week of fallout from the Creeslough explosions, for the families it will be a lifetime. Local priest Fr John Joe Duffy has had “a week like no other”, as Mary Wilson described…
Editor’s Comment In England and Wales, churches and other places of worship have been included in taxpayer-funded programmes aimed at easing the rising cost of fuel. Most places of worship are large and, particularly in the case of churches, were built at a time when insulation and energy efficiency were not priorities. In short, they…
Ruadhán Jones
Peter Costello
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly