Some people enter a theatre of war and never see battle. I was in Paris last week, at the height of the reported violence, and witnessed nothing amiss. Wherever I went in central Paris, it was untroubled: the Etoile area, the Louvre, the Comedie-Française (playing to full houses), Montparnasse, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Latin Quarter,…
Known best for his iconic portrayal of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, Catholic actor Jim Caviezel has said that a new movie he’s starring in aims to motivate millions to end child trafficking. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde, Sound of Freedom is based on true events and stars Jim Caviezel as former…
Gretchen Crowe It’s easy for Catholics to take the rosary for granted. We tend to purchase them as souvenirs, or carry them around with us, or even wear them – but we forget the immense power that they have when we actually pray them. And that’s really too bad, because a devotion to the rosary…
The Irish community in Paris has joined in prayers for peace following days of protest across France after the shooting dead of a 17-year-old by a police officer. Nahel M., who is Algerian and of Moroccan descent, was shot during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a Paris suburb on June 27. Violent protests broke out…
Persistent violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the emergence of new groups of militia are key concerns of the Catholic bishops in the Central African nation. In a statement issued at the end of their June 19–22 plenary assembly, members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO)…
It is a remarkable thing that arguably the most overtly spiritual director of the 1970s and ‘80s was a product of the decidedly atheist USSR. Andrei Tarkovsky imbued each film with a yearning for spiritual truths, even while cultural authorities policed films for such ‘subversive themes’. Two of Tarkovsky’s films make the Vatican’s 1995 list…
Few theologians have ever gone out of their way to meet with the Vatican’s doctrinal watch body, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, preferring, with good reason, to give it a wide berth. That is precisely what I did, however, in my capacity as president of the 800 member European Society for Catholic…
The Catholic Church in Germany, shaken by the abuse scandal, is continuing to shrink, with more than half a million people officially quitting the Church in 2022. Most of the resignations occurred in the Archdiocese of Cologne. The wave of resignations from the Church in Germany has reached a record high, according to figures published by the…
The myth that only religious can be saints is one that’s well and truly on its way to being busted, with the Church making a renewed effort to highlight the many, many people who’ve walked the path of holiness in many different forms of life. July 8, a missionary, married couple from the early Church…
Gogglebox Ireland has put out a call for nuns and priests to be a part of their TV show, which focuses on friends and families across the country watching television and filmed to see their reactions. Series producer Gareth McGreevy has said they are hoping to cast clergy and religious as their new ‘Goggleboxers’. Speaking…
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady