The recently installed Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian SJ attended the Commencement Ceremonies for graduands at St Mary’s University College in Belfast throughout the month of June. As Chair of the Board of Governors at the College, Bishop McGuckian, presided at celebrations for awards in Religious Education, Liberal Arts, Irish-medium education as well…
Letter of the week The persecution of those with Christian values Dear Editor, I have written in the past regarding my deep appreciation of The Irish Catholic newspaper, and now I write to express that same appreciation of all the great writers who contribute to this paper and, above all, to some new contributors, especially…
Want to hear a secret? You likely know a prayer that can reorient you to everything in your life. And it goes like this: “Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Or as you might have learned it growing up:…
Bishop of Killaloe Fintan Monahan has expressed his joy at the scheduled presence of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, at Monsignor Séamus Horgan’s consecration as Papal Nuncio to South Sudan at Ennis Cathedral, Co. Clare, this coming Saturday. In a press release distributed today, Bishop Monahan said, “We are honoured to be welcoming…
Personally, I would not have refused Holy Communion to Fine Gael politician and Junior Minister, Colm Burke, if I were a priest or eucharistic minister. Nonetheless, Fr Gabriel Burke, the priest who did refuse Deputy Burke communion, has prompted a necessary debate on who should receive communion and when, because the attitude to the receipt…
The Eucharist is the summit of our faith, in which the entire story of our salvation is made real in a miraculous and powerful way. The Roman Missal calls Holy Eucharist the “Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received; the memory of his Passion is renewed; the mind is filled with grace; and a pledge of…
During my high school years, I lived with my grandmother Matilde. Sunday night was a sacred time when she would always take me to church. Back then, I lived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, and we had two options to go to Mass: Our Lady of the Rosary Church, three blocks away, or…
Dean Keating These recent elections were not the parting of the fog that many had hoped for or the endorsement of Government that the Taoiseach has claimed. At best, we can see a stagnation for all three major parties and a diversification of the Irish political spectrum, caused by a rejection of the Government’s more…
Dublin’s fondness for Handel’s music goes back to 1742 when the composer lived in Abbey Street. He had brought with him from London the score of his oratorio Messiah, which had its first performance in the Fishamble Street Musick Rooms on April 13 that year. Handel directed the performance from the harpsichord with London-born Dublin-domiciled…
An artist who stabbed a man to death is having two of his paintings exhibited at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. Although no stranger to brawling and prison, powerful connections enabled his notorious behaviour for years; and his talent for producing psychologically complex, deeply spiritual masterpieces helped sustain him. At present, there is a steady…
Renata Milán Morales
Brandon Scott
David Quinn
Martina Purdy