This is one of those man-bites-dog stories. A survey has just been released by the Ombudsman for Children which shows that secondary school children want more, not less religion taught in class. This is the precise opposite of what we’ve been led to believe, which is to say, that secondary school pupils want less religion…
“More things are wrought by prayer than this world realises,” said Fr Richard Gibbons, rector at Knock Shrine, speaking with this paper preceding the annual Novena at Knock Shrine, that began on August 14. The event is expected to draw over 130,000 faithful, as it has done for the last 47 years. However, as the…
The only weekly Mass celebrated in Spanish in Ireland attracts over 100 attendees, making it a foundation for this community, offering a connection to faith, culture, and community for thousands of people. According to the 2022 census, 48,113 people in Ireland speak Spanish at home, forming a significant part of the country’s multicultural structure. Every…
Sr Briege McKenna, Catholic nun, mystic and author of Miracles Do Happen, during her current visit to Ireland shared a vision of a crisis within the Church – one she believes has already begun. Sr Briege described an image she received: “I saw this image of a vast desert and people were crying… And He…
St Anthony offers a timeless challenge, says Lauretta Brown The invitation that Jesus gave to the rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew to “go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” is one that has echoed throughout the history of…
Courtney Mares Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, spoke on the phone last Monday morning with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in a conversation that underlined the need for dialogue, negotiation, and peace. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the cardinal “expressed the Holy See’s serious concern about what is happening in the…
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cut the diplomatic ties between the two countries with the mutual expulsion of their ambassadors to Managua and Brasilia, carried out over the past week. Long-time allies who take part in international left-wing organisations like the São Paulo Forum – that gather…
Jerusalem Through the Ages: From its Beginnings to the Crusades by Jodi Magness (Oxford University Press, £30.99/€36.50) Author Jodi Magness is a distinguished archaeologist at the height of her career who specialises in ancient Palestine from its beginnings up the Middle Ages. Over several years she had to be persuaded to write this book, but many…
David Solomon, a longtime professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and founder of what is now the de Nicola Centre for Ethics and Culture, recently entered the Catholic Church, according to a former student writing for Word on Fire. Solomon, who arrived at the university in 1968, came into the Catholic Church earlier…
Brando – The Fun Side by Aubrey Malone (Bear Manor Media, €32.95) Famously we are advised by Monty Python to look on the bright side of life. And so we ought to. But the bright side of Marlon Brando? He made his first impact as an actor playing a sullen angry young man in films that…
David Quinn
Renata Milán Morales
Peter Costello