Canon Francis Brown Our recent nine-day Novena in honour of St Carlo Acutis at Newry Cathedral was a wonderful celebration of faith, bringing together people of all ages for prayer, reflection and spiritual renewal. Throughout the Novena, we were privileged to welcome inspirational speakers whose personal testimonies reminded us that faith can transform lives and…
Fr Peter Ewaoche Johnson, PhD Nigeria has been in the media lately for many unpleasant and disturbing incidents. Nearly every day the world wakes up to the news of terrorists’ attacks on schools, churches and communities with scores of people murdered, kidnapped, maimed and displaced. These incidents are interpreted differently by different interest groups,…
John Cleary In recent years, Irish education has rightly placed student wellbeing at the heart of the Junior Cycle experience. Schools have embraced programmes promoting resilience, emotional literacy, physical health, relationships and belonging. But in doing so, have we overlooked something? Young people do not only need help managing their emotions or coping with life’s…
Why are fewer young people choosing to marry in the Catholic Church, and how does contemporary society understand the relationship between sexuality, procreation, and the sacrament of marriage? Those are among the questions addressed at an international gathering on the family at the Vatican, which took place through October 14 with the participation of presidents…
Shortly after Pope Leo XIV announced he will undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule, Catholic bishops, clergy, religious and other faithful in the US and Canada offered their promise of prayers for his recovery. The 71-year-old pope disclosed during his October 11 Angelus address that doctors had found a “localised nodule” in his lung.…
The Archdiocese of St Louis has filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging that a local immigration detention facility in Missouri is preventing priests from administering the sacraments to detainees. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, SE Division against high ranking members of the…
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday declared capital punishment ”inadmissible” as he marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty and his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad. In a post on X, the American pope quoted the revised Catholic teaching on capital punishment ushered in by Pope Francis that…
Many Catholics in Australia who do not regularly go to Sunday Mass still pray, believe Jesus is the Son of God, and say their faith matters, according to a study released October 7 by the country’s bishops. The report, ‘Absent from the Table: Catholics in Australia Who Do Not Regularly Attend Sunday Mass,’ was commissioned…
Donegal Town, 1474-1974. Maynooth Studies in Local History, 182, by Matthew Potter (Four Courts Press, €12.95) For many years now, Four Courts Press has been publishing the Maynooth Studies in Local History and this volume is number 182 in the series. Readers will know them as short, focused and academically rigorous accounts of a wide…
Dear Editor, With reference to Roisín Coll’s article: ‘A cup of tea and an open door’, September 24. We have for years attended Mass one Sunday each year in a parish in Saumur, France. Last Sunday more than 50% of the congregation was “youngish.” The place teemed with young parents and children. Since COVID the…