In 1943 in The Song of Bernadette, Jennifer Jones played Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant who claimed to have had a vision of Our Lady in the French village of Lourdes. Charles Bickford was Fr Peyramale, representing the Church’s initial discounting of her claim before the worldwide attention conferred on her resulted in a change…
Dublin’s Stained Glass: A guide to the finest twentieth-century windows, by David Caron (Four Fours Press, €29.95 / £24.95) This is a book which will give delight as well as insight to those who enjoy nothing more than exploring our great tradition of stained glass, largely created since the beginning of the 20th century.…
England’s Thousand Best Churches, by Simon Jenkins, with photographs from the Country Life archive (Allen Lane, £50.00; also available in paperback) This is not strictly a new book, but it is one which is very relevant to an important discussion for today: what is the future of our churches here in Ireland? Some readers will like…
I write this piece the morning after a distressing night. A reconfiguration of sleeping arrangements to give our firstborn his own bedroom meant that I lay down to sleep gazing up at the night sky through a Velux window above the bed in our new room. As I lay there admiring far off constellations, I…
Shadows + Reflections: The Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Island Bridge, by Annie Dibble and Angela Rolfe (Gandon Editions, €25.00 / £22.00) When my wife and I were small our respective fathers were only too happy to take their families down rural side roads to inspect a monument or two. However, the Irish…
When Pope Leo XIV was still Fr Robert Prevost, he was assaulted on a Dublin street. “Never in my life, anywhere in the world have I been attacked as I was in Ireland” he said. Fr Prevost’s only ‘crime’ was wearing a collar at a time when public fury over clerical abuse and cover-ups was…
A historic moment: for the first time since the Reformation, an English monarch took part in a Catholic funeral service for a British royal. The Pope also spoke. The Catholic funeral mass for the Duchess of Kent took place in London’s Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday. The liturgy was presided over by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the…
The Irish Catholic columnist and Director of the Iona Institute David Quinn has received a threatening letter containing a white powder substance claiming to be Anthrax. Gardai were called and the building on Merrion Square where Iona have offices was evacuated. The letter seen by The Irish Catholic newspaper was sent to the Iona Institute…
AI instead of industrialisation: Church historian Ernesti sees Pope Leo XIV as the successor to his predecessor. The new Pope’s response to the current social revolution is still unclear. For church historian Jörg Ernesti, Leo XIV is still “a black box” in theological terms. “We don’t know whether he will make conservative decisions or…
It is with great honour and conviction that I confirm my support for Maria Steen in her campaign to seek nomination for the Presidency of Ireland. Maria Steen has long been a courageous and principled voice in Irish public life. Her unwavering commitment to the values of faith, family, and constitutional integrity has resonated with…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello