In the wake of the brutal slaying of three police officers in Chile, an act that shocked the conscience of the South American nation, the country’s Catholic bishops stressed the themes of violence and public fear in an April 30 meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric. Archbishop René Rebolledo of La Serena, who heads the…
Addressing the annual meeting of the Joint Managerial Body, the umbrella organisation for faith-based secondary schools in Ireland, Professor Eamonn Conway of the University of Notre Dame Australia said that three out of ten teachers under 29 years of age report not “witnessing” to Catholic ethos at all or doing so only to a limited…
There is a contradiction at the heart of much Catholic discourse over the future of the Church – and faith. Or so it seems to me. The experience of synodality indicates that we must face a future in which there is more involvement by the laity, and less “clericalism”. There is much criticism of times…
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a new report last week highlighting the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world. This year, the countries topping USCIRF’s list of the world’s most egregious religious freedom violators were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,…
The Jesuits’ decision for Gardiner Street Parish to become part of the neighbouring Pro-Cathedral Parish is part of a determined plan to focus the resources they have to better minister to the community, especially young people, according to the parish priest. The Church of St Francis Xavier will no longer be a parish church from…
For the first time, an Arab Christian woman has been elected as the rector of an Israeli university — the University of Haifa. The announcement of Professor Mouna Maroun’s appointment was made earlier in April amid tensions with Iran and while anti-Israel protests were mounting at universities around the world. Ms Maroun belongs to the…
Immigration and asylum-seeking continue to be two of the biggest issues now that concern Irish voters. They are not far below housing. At the last election in early 2020 they barely featured at all. But perhaps that is because in 2019, the relatively small number of 4,781 people claimed asylum here, compared with over 13,000…
May is a chance to celebrate Mary’s many appearances, writes Gretchen Crowe Seven years ago this May, the Church celebrated the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to three shepherd children at Fatima. To commemorate the event, Pope Francis visited Portugal, as did thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. Apparitions It was a time of…
Spirit of Revolution: Ireland from below 1917-1923, John Cunningham and Terry Dunne (Four Courts Press, €24.95 / £21.95) The cover of this book is graced by a 1934 watercolour by Harry Kernoff, entitled Liberty Hall, Dublin, night: the street is scattered with a selection of typical working class Dubliners, a social group with which…
Belief in the devil is persistent in the Bible, writes Fr Fintan Lyons OSB The existence of evil in the world is an inescapable fact. This raises such questions as how its nature may be understood and its origin established. The issue of its nature are discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 of my book…
Mary Kenny
Chai Brady
David Quinn
Peter Costello