A City Imagined: Belfast Soulscapes by Gerald Dawe (Merrion Press, €19.95) Joe Carroll Gerald Dawe grew up in pre-Troubles sectarian Belfast, and this slim book is his third attempt to re-capture what today can seem a magical time when poetry and music were flourishing on narrow streets. As Dawe took his first steps as a…
Laudato Si’ This month, the Vatican highlighted the potential good that the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics can bring about during the ‘Season of Creation’, which starts on the September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on October 4, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint…
Bringing fun from all around the world to kids The Building Bridges Community Theatre (BBCAT) in Lurgan, Co. Armagh are gearing up to deliver their ‘All Around The World Summer Scheme’ for children. It runs for five days from August 2-6 for children aged 7-11 years old at Market Street in Lurgan. There will be…
Dear Editor, The concept of ‘safe access zones’ around places that provide abortion is still being bandied about, most recently by Limerick City and County councillors. A group of councillors do not have the power to deprive people of the right to pray quietly outside abortion clinics for the unborn children losing their lives through…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus miraculously fed people by multiplying loaves and fishes. In John’s Gospel miracles are usually called signs. In today’s Gospel (John 6:24-35), Jesus asks the people to see the miracle of the bread as a sign of something greater, to move on to…
‘Do not abandon Mozambique’, say Catholics, amid jihadist attacks l Islamist terrorism threatens the future of Mozambique, according to a Catholic community aiding hundreds of thousands of refugees driven out by attacks. “Do not abandon the people of Mozambique,” Fr Angelo Romano urged at a press conference in Rome on July 21. “The future prospects…
Traditionalist communities ‘shocked’ at new measures Ruadhán Jones and Chai Brady Pope Francis’ new restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass have “shocked” some Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) communities, but others warn the Church faced “the peril of division” if the Pope hadn’t intervened. Fr Liam Tracey, professor of Liturgy at Maynooth University told The…
In-person worship has yet to return to Irish prisons, the Irish Prison Service confirmed, even though a number of prisons are now fully vaccinated. Although public worship returned to the general population May 10, in-person worship is yet to take place in Irish prison settings. The Irish Catholic was told that the return of in-person…
The liturgy during the funeral Mass last week of a man with scores of criminal convictions was described as “disturbing” by the Prior of St Mary’s in Tallaght, Dublin. Fr Donal Roche was not celebrating the Requiem Mass for Dean Maguire (29), who died in a crash on the N7 two weeks ago, but was…
Catholic bishops criticised the “lethargic pace” of a government inquiry in to the Easter 2019 Church bombings, warning that they will begin organising the faithful to action if their demands for an official explanation are not met. The bishops have given Sri Lanka’s government a one-month deadline to answer their letter sent on behalf of…