Debate over John Paul II’s handling of abuse during his time as archbishop threatens to further tear Poland in two, writes Jason Osborne It’s hard to overstate the place St Pope John Paul II occupies in the Polish psyche and society, as few other countries have comparably titanic figures at all, never mind within living…
The St Vincent de Paul society has warned the Antrim Town community not to be fooled by people claiming to conduct door-to-door collections on behalf of the society. The warning comes as individuals posing as volunteers called at houses in the Antrim parish area, claiming to be taking up a collection. The SVP “do not…
Letter from Holy Land Tom Tracy The priest-director of the Cultural Heritage Office for the Custodia Terrae Sanctae, or Custody of the Holy Land, in Jerusalem opened a drawer of vestments and casually dropped an unexpected historical tidbit about a clerical chasuble he was showing a group of foreign guests. The chasuble was part of a…
From Brazil to Ireland: Fr Bortolini Neto with a great devotion to St Patrick, writes Chai Brady Why would a Brazilian man have such a strong connection with Ireland’s patron saint? The answer is easy for priest and musician Fr EmílioBortolini Neto who decided to write his thesis on St Patrick and has recently brought…
Darkness Between Stars by John F. Deane and James Harpur (Irish Pages Press, Belfast, €24.99/£22.00) Thomas Macarthy This book is an entirely unexpected project. Two poets of seniority and assured reputation have come together to publish the poetic faith essence of their many-volumed careers. Deane is a Catholic poet who once studied for the priesthood and…
Faith in Film When A Hidden Life came out in 2019 from maverick American filmmaker Terrence Malick, it was greeted with almost unquestioning adulation. The film promised to tell the story of Blessed Franz Jagerstätter, an Austrian who was executed by the Nazis for refusing conscription. The Austrian farmer is a martyr of the Church,…
A top aide to Pope Francis said there’s a need for dialogue with the German bishops after a recent vote in favour of blessing same-sex unions, insisting that the move does not align with official Catholic doctrine. “A local, particular Church cannot make a decision like that which involves the discipline of the universal Church,”…
Leave well alone,” a senior Government minister told me not too long ago. It was not advice for me, but hitherto unspoken advice to his colleagues who were very gung-ho on “getting the Church out of schools,” as he put it. Over recent years, he had diagnosed that – despite a vocal minority – there…
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” These words of Jesus apply not just to those who are ordained to ministry and administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but to everyone inside the body of Christ. All of us have the power…
Questions of Faith When Christians petition God for things they want, atheists and sometimes fellow Christian’s bristle. Isn’t that treating God like a fairy godparent or a gumball machine – you make your wish or put your prayers in and out comes what you want? This is a good question, given that the Catholic tradition…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones
Michael Kelly
Fr Ronald Rolheiser