A “world famous and world renowned” scholar and librarian, Donegal-born Fr Leonard Boyle OP, was recently remembered and celebrated in Rome by his Irish Dominican brothers on the centenary of his birth in 1923. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Provincial for the Dominican Order in Ireland, Fr John Harris OP, said that “the most…
All My Wild Mothers: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss and an Apothecary Garden, by Victoria Bennett (Two Roads / Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99 / €19.99) Mens sana in corpo sans (a healthy mind in a healthy body) is an old saying, but its truth is borne out by this very evocative book. Most books…
Deacon Greg Kandra Ez 43:11-12, 15-17 Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 Mt 25:31-46 Are we here already? Suddenly, we find ourselves at the end of the liturgical year, gazing down the road toward Advent and Christmas, and facing one of the biggest feasts on the Church calendar, with one of the longest…
With very little publicity, significant in itself, the ‘Safe Access Zones’ Bill passed in the Dáil last week. The only coverage I came across was on Newstalk Breakfast (Wednesday). It was unfortunately a short item, though the coverage was welcome and I thought presenter Shane Coleman (pictured right) was even-handed – increasingly Newstalk is the…
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, was one of several US bishops who spoke passionately in support this week of a proposal to name the 19th Century English cardinal St John Henry Newman a “doctor of the Church”. The US bishops’ Committee on Doctrine asked the country’s body of bishops November 15, during their annual fall…
My Campaign in Ireland Part II: My Connection with the Catholic University, by John Henry Newman, with an introduction and notes by Paul Shrimpton [Newman Millennium Edition, volume XVII] (Gracewing, £35.00 / €40.00) For Catholics it may be enough that John Henry Newman is now canonised. But this in a way is a limitation on…
Kildare and Leighlin receives lay funding boost Proceeds from the writings of a deceased Laois parish priest will go towards training lay people for ministry in counties Laois, Kildare, Offaly and Carlow. After he was presented with a cheque for €7,000 by members of the Cummins family, from Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Bishop of Kildare and…
November 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963. This Irish American was the first Catholic to be elected president of the United States and his rise to the highest office of American politics represented a moment of pride and triumph of…
Dear Editor, I wish to commend you on your article, ‘We need a rethink on Communion Services’ [The Irish Catholic – November 9, 2023]. Your suggestion that the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours by parishioners might be a preferable option to ‘Communion Services’ is worthy of serious consideration. The revision of the divine office after…
Ronnie O’Sullivan is generally regarded as the greatest snooker player of all time. In the just-released documentary about his life, Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Reason (Amazon Prime) we’re brought into the complexities of his life and game. At times he appears so good he’s on a different planet to his colleagues. He can do…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone