St Augustine uses the image of two cities to define the central conflict that runs throughout history between the self-love that constitutes the City of Man and the divine love that forms the City of God. Unsurprisingly, the first Augustinian Pope, Leo XIV, shapes Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical, around this image: “Humanity, created by…
A week-long music pilgrimage marked the centenary of the Pontifical Irish College’s present home in Rome. Titled ‘Centenary in Song’, the celebration combined workshops, prayer, faith formation and liturgies. Eoin McCormack, Director of Lay Formation at the Pontifical Irish College, explained that the week culminated in a gala concert on Friday evening, with 30 liturgical…
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta’s humanitarian outreach assisted 9 million people in 2025 across conflict and disaster-affected regions, including Gaza and Ukraine, and has launched an emergency response in Venezuela. Speaking for the nearly 1,000‑year‑old humanitarian order, Josef Blotz, its grand hospitaller, told EWTN News Nightly about “the sobering degree of need” and the…
Fountain of Living Water: Poetry, Prayers and Hymns of the Mystics of the Early Church of the East (Gracewing, £12.99 / €15.50) When many people read the gospels they think they are hearing the words of Jesus himself. But the gospels were written in a Greek dialect; Jesus actually spoke Aramaic. Here in Ireland we…
Archbishop Dermot Farrell has said there are “legitimate concerns” about the rate of population growth and the impact on housing and essential services, but warned that Ireland has also witnessed the “mobilisation of hatred and rejection” against migrants in its towns and cities. Speaking during Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral, Dublin, for the 14th Sunday…
Nicaraguan police detained Bishop Emeritus Abelardo Mata again on June 30, just one day after his initial detention and subsequent release on June 29. The 80-year-old prelate is reportedly now under house arrest. Mata, bishop emeritus of Estelí, was arrested at a clinic where he had gone for a checkup for his pacemaker. This occurred…
In this season, we spend a lot of time congratulating others on their graduations, or their upcoming jobs or their new marriages. That’s all lovely, but there are times when, while genuinely glad for others, we feel a bit mired in our daily muck, wondering if there is anything new and exciting in store for…
Second-generation Irish families are being prohibited from marrying in the historic Catholic Church in Birmingham as the parish struggles to raise funds for immediate repairs. Standing for over 175 years, St Joseph’s Church in Nechells has served Irish Catholics since they fled from the Famine almost two centuries ago. Today, £350,000 worth of damage to…
This year, Irish Carmelites are marking 80 years in Zimbabwe and have commemorated the milestone with a documentary titled, “Carmelite Friars In Zimbabwe”. The documentary provides insight to the remarkable history of the Order, its present, and future. First tracing the Carmelites mission of serving Eastern rural communities of Zimbabwe back to 1946. It then…
Last week I wrote about The Invite, a film that carried a 15s Cert but was more sexually explicit than most Under-18s ones in the past. Do such certs mean anything these days? It’s a long time since 1934, when Hollywood imposed a restrictive Code on films in an attempt to ‘clean itself up’ under…
Renata Steffens
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone