Q: Why would God allow Satan to torture and torment Job when he knew Job was a wonderful man and if God is, indeed, omniscient? A: First of all, it’s not known whether Job was a literal historical figure. Many Scripture scholars believe that the Book of Job in the Old Testament is essentially a…
The world lost a very special person last month, June 2025. Charlotte Anne Devine had a quiet and mild disposition, but she made a great impression on everyone she met. By worldly standards, there was nothing remarkable about Charlotte Anne’s life but in the eyes of heaven, she was a treasure. Native of the parish…
150 years of service by the Poor Servants of the Mother of God and their lasting bond with the village The history of Carrigtwohill and the Poor Servants of the Mother of God (PSMG) Sisters, has been closely intertwined over the last 150 years. Venerable Magdalen Taylor started her Carrigtwohill community in 1875, in response…
The new hub of Christianity is the Global South, especially Africa and Asia. A slumbering religious giant is awakening. Christianity is a religion on the move. Literally. Yes, African Christianity is on the move and moving outwards and upwards. Today thousands of Africans are moving north seeking new life. Among them are many professionals, part…
There must be a factory somewhere producing films that attack the Catholic Church exclusively. The amount of them seems relentless at times. Shiny modern liberal Ireland seems so lacking in confidence that it has to keep hammering home the message. The latest iteration was Pray for Our Sinners (RTÉ One, Wednesday) an authored documentary by…
The influence of the Church in films of the thirties and forties was evident in ones featuring priests working against juvenile delinquency, like Spencer Tracy in Boystown in 1938. Pat O’Brien did likewise as Fr Jerry Connolly in Angels with Dirty Faces, also in 1938. The film was a huge success, exploring the issue of…
Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin announced diocesan appointments taking effect from September 6. The appointments are as follow: Rev. Sean McArdle, SM, PP Louth, to retire. Rev. Brian Slater, Adm. Donaghmore, to be PP Donaghmore. Rev. Emanual Fasakin, MSP, CC St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish, Armagh, on loan from the Missionary Society of St Paul Congregation,…
Greetings from the holiday month of July “Summertime And the living is easy, Fish are jumping And the cotton is high…” With apologies to the composer of this tune, George Gerschwin, it is the jazzy voice of Ella Fitzgerald which sums up how July feels for this pastor. It’s a lovely month in most country…
Church, Parish & Education: Interaction Joseph McCann CM (Kingdom Books, €30.00) Joseph McCann was born at Hollis, Queens, New York in 1940. He attended the local Pascal Baylon elementary school taught by the Sisters of St Joseph of Brentwood. After the family re-settled in Dublin he was a student at the secondary school of…
Anyone seeking a serious and well informed account of vaudou can consult Les mysteres du vaudou, translated as Voodoo: The Search for the Spirit (Thames & Hudson / New Horizons, €14.70 / £9.75), by the Haitian sociologist Laënenc Hurbon, a trained Catholic theologian, who is now a Haitian academic. May Deren’s The Divine Horsemen (published in London…
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello