Month: August 2024

Weightlifting champion decides to enter seminary

Will Heller, a 21-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, is a two-time Junior National Medallist and All American, a state record holder in Ohio and Michigan, and the 2023 University National Champion in the 102 kilogram class in weightlifting. However, the weightlifting phenom now has his sights on a more soul-intensive goal – becoming a Catholic priest.…

Why we should read Pascal today

A Summer with Pascal Antoine Compagnon, translated by Catherine Porte (The Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, £19.95 / €23.60) Pensées by Blaise Pascal, translation edited by Pierre Zoberman with an introduction by David Wetsel, with notes by both (Catholic University of America Press, £29.99 / €35.50 Pope Francis published an Apostolic Letter in June 2023…

Veteran broadcaster not a fan of Ignatian methods

Speaking on the bank holiday Monday episode of the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, veteran broadcaster Pat Kenny spoke to director Neil Jordan about his memories attending annual retreats held in Manresa House, a Jesuit retreat centre in Dublin, which according to him was a mandatory excursion for the boys attending his secondary school. The…

Irish city life and the lack of religion

Dublin from 1970 to 1990: The city transformed by Joseph Brady (Four Court Press, review of Joe Brady, €24.95 / £18.50) This new book by Joseph Brady marks the conclusion of a series devoted to the development of Dublin city, or perhaps we might say the Dublin region, since circa 900 AD,  Joseph Brady is a…

Is every Sunday a wasted opportunity?

It’s not every day that The New York Times runs a story about Catholics and Eucharistic Adoration. Yet the National Eucharistic Congress held in July in Indianapolis caught the attention of the Gray Lady and many others. The five-day gathering in Lucas Oil Stadium, years in the planning with a $14 million budget, attracted 50,000…