A challenge by businessman Declan Ganley over Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions on religious services has been adjourned at the High Court to mid-month, according to The Irish Independent. The Co Galway based businessman, a practising Catholic, claims that as a result of the restrictions, he cannot leave his home to attend Mass in breach of…
Living Laudato Si’ Our New Year resolutions this year may simply have been to get through lockdown as best we can. And that’s ok! Pope Francis does gives us a nudge however, in the address he gave on the World Day of Peace, January 1. He asks us to focus on one thing, to create…
Mary Hayden: Irish historian and feminist, 1862-1942 by Joyce Padbury (Arlen House, €25). Felix M. Larkin The older among us may remember the textbook A short history of the Irish people from the earliest times to 1920, by Mary Hayden and George A. Moonan. First published in 1921, it moulded the ideas of a generation and was…
A German Catholic bishop said last Wednesday that he detected an “authoritarian despotism” in the procedures of the country’s controversial “Synodal Way”. In an open letter issued February 3, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg criticised the format of an online conference of the Synodal Way. He also challenged the Synodal Way’s executive committee to show greater…
NFL star Harrison Butker initially thought the Faith wasn’t for him, saying during an interview with EWTN, “it pushed me away. I was like…ah this is just, this is just not me. It doesn’t go with the world”. However, it ended up attracting him to it, in his own words, “because it was so different…
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has appealed to the people of Myanmar – including the army, which staged a coup February 1 – to remain calm and to work for open lines of communication so democracy can prevail. “When, in 2015, a peaceful transition to the elected government was effected by the army, that…
Pope Francis adds feast of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus to Church calendar Pope Francis has added the memorial of Sts Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to the General Roman Calendar, giving the siblings the combined feast day of July 29. A decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship said on 2 February that Pope Francis had…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. We will be commencing Lent next Wednesday. Because the churches are closed you may not be able to receive the blessed ashes, although some parishes will have sachets of ashes available for collection. With or without the ashes, you can still observe Lent. During Lent we are…
Alcohol deaths hit record high during pandemic The BBC reported that deaths caused by alcohol hit a record high during the first nine months of 2020, according to provisional figures from England and Wales. Between January and September, 5,460 deaths were registered with this cause of death, which is up 16% on the same months…
Dear Editor, In recent times there has been an increase of interest in the ministry of exorcism in the Church. Jason Osborne’s article, ‘Evil One exploiting Covid-19 to bring about fear says famed Dublin exorcist’ [IC 28/01/2021], quoting veteran exorcist Fr Pat Collins, prompts this letter. Is this a clear demonstration of “demonic obsession” where the demon,…