Earlier in the year, I mentioned 2023 being the sesquicentenary of the birth of Sergey Rakhmaninov in Semyonovo in Russia. While anniversary performances of his music take place in a number of venues, there will be a major celebration on Friday May 26 when the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus end their 2022/23 series of…
Dear Editor, Jason Osborne reported [The Irish Catholic – April 27, 2023] that pro-life politicians criticised the review of the State’s abortion law claiming that some of its recommendations violated a promise given at the time of the referendum. Mattie McGrath, for example, said “the report resembles the slippery slope that I and my colleagues warned about…
An art exhibit at the European Union’s Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium, has prompted criticism from conservative politicians in Italy for its display of a blasphemous depiction of Jesus Christ and the apostles. The artwork, a series of photographs by lesbian Swedish photographer Elisabeth Ohlson, includes one of a man who is meant to represent…
The Oldest Books in the World: Philosophy in the Age of the Pyramids, by Bill Manley (Thames and Hudson, £25.00/€29.00) How could any literate person resist the appeal of a title like this? Here for once they will find their expectations brilliantly fulfilled. This is indeed a most interesting book, but more than that it…
Tánaiste welcomes international Catholic award winner Tánaiste Mícheál Martin welcomed the winner of the 2022 Spirit of Francis Award from Catholic Extension, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, to thank her for her commitment to peace in Ireland. The Irish-American philanthropist, together with her late husband Lew, has been involved in philanthropic initiatives for over two decades, focusing…
The legacy of Irish missionaries are women of substance and faith, Ruadhán Jones hears Friday morning, April 28, was one of those rare experiences of unadulterated happiness for the Church in Ireland. In a spirit of festivity and love, the works of Irish missionaries were praised in song by some of the women they had…
We have a name! (Or, Habemus nomen as the cardinal who announces a new pope might put it). At last, our family of parishes has a name of its very own. Since last September, when I took up my new West Cork coastal appointment, our pastoral unit has had the somewhat unwieldy title of “The…
I often think that it should be possible for there to be authority without authoritarianism, dogma without dogmatism or pomp without pomposity. Nine News (RTÉ One, Saturday) referred to the “pomp and ceremony” at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III. It wasn’t short of either of those, but was it pompous? I’ve seen worse…
African women evangelised and educated by Irish missionaries can “change the tide” for faith in Ireland, says an Irish missionary who dedicated her life to educating women in Cameroon. Sr Mary Neville (89) of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, who worked as a missionary in Nigeria and Cameroon for almost 50 years, said…
Overcrowding, the ongoing struggle to rehabilitate prisoners and abundant access to drugs are some of the key issues flagged by Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes following a recent visit to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin. Liaison with the country’s prison chaplains, Bishop Hayes travelled there to support to the work of the prison’s chaplains and expressed…
Peter Costello
Ruadhán Jones
Brendan O’Regan