Church bells and the Muslim call to prayer sounded on August 11 to mark a minute of silence for those who perished in the explosion devastating much of Beirut and its port a week earlier. The port, badly damaged by a deadly explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, resumed partial operations. But the same…
The “downright rude and uncooperative” behaviour of a small number of Massgoers in Carrick-on-Shannon has been criticised amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. A note in the parish bulletin reads that the overall response “of our parishioners has been very positive. It has also enabled us to join with different families from our parish in celebrating anniversary…
Cardinal Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius, has praised public responses to an oil spill that devastated the island’s coastline, as one prominent lay Catholic demanded “honest information” about the disaster. “Numerous families are afflicted by a pestilential and persistent odor – fishermen and all those living from the sea are suffering particularly, while ecological treasures…
As an occasional continuation of our series ‘Lockdown Reading’, this week we are publishing an appreciation of a book once very well known, but now neglected… Seán Ryan Literature can generally be broken down to two forms – the easy-reading form encompassing the popular chic-lit, page-turner form, which high brows mightn’t even concede to be…
Church leaders in Bangladesh have launched a campaign to plant 400,000 trees across the country to mark the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, the golden jubilee of the country’s independence and the birth centenary of the nation’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bishops led by Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka Archdiocese inaugurated the…
Pope baptises conjoined twins separated by Vatican’s Bambino Gesu Hospital Two conjoined twins successfully separated in June by surgeons at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospitalhave recently been baptised by Pope Francis. The Baptism of babies Ervina and Prefina at the Pope’s residence of Casa Santa Marta, was announced by Central African Republic politician, Antoinette Montaigne.…
Time to go and play with Lego Not many people haven’t heard of Lego, and with good reason! The age-old toy that never seems to go out of fashion will be centre stage at a family fun event in Galway next month. ‘LimBrick City’ will bring their Brick Expo on tour and visit Galway on…
After election in Belarus, Catholic leaders urge restraint, dialogue Catholic leaders have urged dialogue and restraint in Belarus amid violent street clashes following a contested presidential election on August 9. “The two sides clearly have to talk if this dangerous situation isn’t to deteriorate,” said Fr Yuri Sanko, spokesman for the Belarusian bishops’ conference. “Although…
Dear Editor, I am sure I am not the only one who was very pleased and deeply moved to see the celebration of Eid al-Adha in Croke Park. Because of Covid-19 only about 150 people could take part. I was impressed by the reverence of the Muslims present including little children. It was wonderful to…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Today’s Gospel (Matthew 16:13-20) is a story of new names. In the Bible a new name meant a new mission. First of all, Jesus asked the disciples: “Who do people say I am?” Names of former heroes were recalled. “But who do you say I am?” Simon…