Ulysses in Limericks, by Tom Matthews (New Island Books, €9.95) The caricatures of Tom Matthews have been a fixture of Irish and British publications for several decades. His talent is of a partial kind. With great economy of line he can deflate those overblown attitudes which are so common these if only in the…
As the Trump administration moves to seize a diocesan pilgrimage site for the border wall, bishops from New Mexico and Texas called on the faithful to join them for a June 28 Mass on the mountain. In a June 23 message, Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, announced that he and Bishop Mark…
Msgr Peter O’Reilly and Dean Kenneth Hall have been named in the King’s Birthday Honours List and received an OBE award for reconciliation and peacebuilding in Enniskillen and Co. Fermanagh. Humbled by the honour, they emphasised the role that their communities played. “While our names appear in the citation, we see this recognition as belonging…
Pope Leo XIV met privately with the heads of the Synod continental bodies on June 25, at the conclusion of three days of work dedicated to the implementation phase of the Synod. Held on June 23-25, the meeting brought together representatives from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, and North America, accompanied…
The earthquakes in Venezuela dominated news and current affairs coverage last week, as the numbers of casualties rose daily. On Sunday (BBC Radio 4) Edward Stourton, describing Venezuela as a mainly Catholic country, spoke to Bishop Carlos Marquez from Caracas, the capital. He said the Venezuelan people were noted for their solidarity, and that the…
Joe and Angela bicker in an apartment. They’re having Pina and Hawk, the couple from upstairs, over for a meal. But Angela hasn’t told Joe. The marriage is obviously in trouble. The Invite (15), a remake of The People Upstairs, plays out like ‘Ninety Shades of Virginia Woolf.’ As the day goes on and the…
Santa Maria delle Grazie (Our Lady of Grace) parish in the small Italian town of Casalba has found itself in the media spotlight after a statue of St Padre Pio appeared to show a tear of blood trickling down its face. The discovery was made in April, when a parishioner noticed an unusual detail on…
Recently, the people of Cork celebrated the centenary of their annual Eucharistic Procession. The Cork Eucharistic Procession began in 1926, only a few years after the end of the Irish Civil War, and the social and political context of the time is essential to understanding its significance. After the struggle for independence and the bitterness…
In one sense, parishes in every country on earth are much the same; they consist mainly of ordinary Catholics, whose joys and sorrows are similar no matter how different their circumstances. These Catholics want to attend Mass, have their children baptised, arrange Catholic marriages and funerals and depend on the support of a praying community…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone