Clonard Redemptorist monastery, Belfast – which was at the centre of peace-making efforts during the Troubles – hosted a “recommitment service” on Sunday, April 16. Community leaders, clerics and political dignitaries including US Special Envoy Joseph Kennedy III, joined in tribute to peace workers who were inspired by their faith, 25 years on from the…
How much time is too much time online? It’s a question facing all of us in the 21st Century, as technology becomes more and more integrated into our lives. How do we balance work, shopping, reading, communicating – all the ways that we use technology – with a desire to be intentionally present in our…
The President of Ireland praised the Pope for repudiating the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’, writes Ruadhán Jones At the end of March, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins sent Pope Francis a long letter praising the Pope for his “strong solidarity of indigenous peoples”. Francis’ call to the Christian community “never to permit itself to be…
One of the top military hospitals in the US says it is reviewing a Catholic pastoral care contract it awarded last month to a Virginia-based firm that specialises in providing government clients with industrial machinery, tactical gear, and janitorial supplies, in addition to chaplains and other religious staff. Franciscan friars at Holy Name College in nearby Silver…
With Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva back in power in Brazil, the acronym ‘BRICS’ is once again in fashion in international affairs. It refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with Lula’s vision being that these emerging economic and political superpowers could form a partnership to offset the predominance of the West. This…
If you’re at all like me, the Easter Triduum through which we’ve just passed has proven confusing at some point. We’re told Christ dies on Good Friday, and three days later, he rises again from the dead. First of all, Friday to Sunday isn’t three days by our modern reckoning. Secondly, the space between Christ’s…
TD Michael Collins has hit back at the HSE for having “smeared” pro-life counselling services, after the HSE described them as “disingenuous organisations”. The Health Service Executive described a “disingenuous organisation” as one that offers “advice and supports that do not include information on abortion services”. In response, Deputy Collins criticised the HSE, saying an…
Gina Christian A new report concludes that Russia is systematically persecuting believers of several faiths in Ukraine as part of a campaign of “cultural genocide”. “We see that Russia is now exporting (its) policies of state repression with laws in occupied Ukraine, which the Russian government considers to be Russia,” George Barros, geospatial intelligence team…
Knock shrine ‘open to everyone’ the rector tells Chai Brady, after controversial Biden visits for private prayer The worldwide attention Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo received after the visit of US President Joe Biden last week was “incredible”, according to the rector Fr Richard Gibbons. While there was backlash to the visit due to President…
Frank Litton The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, by Martin Wolf (Allen Lane, £30.00/€34.50) For all its faults, democratic capitalism is worth defending. But it is in grave peril” and “Democracy [in the United States] is not yet a lost cause. But it is highly endangered”. These are not the words of a maverick seeking attention…
Ruadhán Jones
John L. Allen Jr.
Chai Brady