Glen Hansard’s recent untimely death left fans reeling. When someone dies in their fifties, particularly if they leave a widow and young child behind, the shock is enormous. And yet, given our human fragility, the surprising thing is not early death but how many of us manage to live well into our eighties and sometimes…
Knock Shrine is preparing to expand its role as a centre for retreats and faith formation as religious-run retreat houses continue to close across Ireland, its rector has said. Fr Richard Gibbons PP said the shrine is planning decades ahead as it considers how its facilities can respond to the changing needs of the Irish…
The pioneer bishop of Nigeria’s Diocese of Katsina said the young diocese is building its future around the vision of becoming a “creative minority,” seeking to transform society through education, faith formation, interreligious dialogue, and witness rather than being discouraged by its small Catholic population. Speaking to ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, at the…
A relative of the Maguire children, whose tragic deaths in 1976 inspired a peace movement in Belfast, has described the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann as a “miracle.” “We used to be dying in the streets, and now we are dancing in the streets,” said Gerry Grehan, whose family was catapulted into world headlines this week…
Last December, the American online magazine, Compact, published an article that became one of the most widely discussed of the year. The author was a would-be scriptwriter hoping for a career in the TV industry, but his career was stillborn. He was the wrong colour and the wrong sex, that is to say, he was…
I don’t think anyone could have predicted twenty years ago that one of the biggest threats to the alcohol industry would be young people willingly choosing not to drink. However, that prediction has come true. According to data released by Bloomberg in 2025, more than US$830 billion in market value has evaporated since 2021 from…
Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace in Ukraine on Sunday, August 9, noting “painful reports” of innocent people killed and injured in both Ukraine and Russia. “Tragic incidents continue,” Pope Leo said, “indeed, they are multiplying, resulting in ever-increasing civilian casualties, including children.” The latest reports say Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian-populated areas…
A Catholic community in India’s West Bengal state is facing down intense intimidation, including demands that Claretian missionaries ministering to the faithful in Nazat village abandon their work and instruct their people to return to their ancestral religions. The incidents follow a string of violent attacks on Christians and churches in the eastern Indian state…
While tens of thousands of Mayo supporters descended on Croke Park, as towns, villages and crossroads emptied in hope that a 75-year wait for Sam Maguire might finally end, anticipation had already reached a fever pitch a week earlier in the tiny rural community of Tooreen, near the Roscommon border. For while Mayo is, and…
A group of 27 Polish pilgrims will trek across Ireland for three weeks, offering their journey in prayer for young people across Europe. The hikers, part of NINIWA Team, a youth initiative of the Missionary Oblates in Poland, will leave Dublin on August 24 and travel through the Wicklow Mountains, Mayo and Connemara before continuing…
Breda O'Brien
Martina Purdy
David Quinn