Kimberley Heatherington Those who minister to, or are part of, the community of people who identify as LGBTQ+ have observed a noted shift with respect to them and their concerns in the working document for the Church’s forthcoming synod of bishops convened by Pope Francis. The working document, or Instrumentum Laboris, was released June 20…
Hospitality embodies the Gospel message and challenges the Church
Thomas O’Loughlin Hospitality is something we all know about. We have all experienced true, warm hospitality that puts us at our ease. Inhospitality has also left a trail in our memories. In Matthew hospitality is offered as a key to discipleship, and inhospitality is presented as the signal of failure in following Jesus. “I was…
Irish priests honoured by Chile’s ambassador
Three Irish missionaries were recognised for the humanitarian assistance they provided to the people of Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s and ‘80s. At the invitation of Ambassador of Chile Ricardo Hernández, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins attended the ceremony in recognition of Fr Brendan Forde, Fr Desmond McGillicuddy and Fr Liam…
In brief
Judge dismisses Texas monastery’s lawsuit against Fort Worth bishop A Texas judge has dismissed a Carmelite monastery’s civil lawsuit against Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson. Without comment, Tarrant County District Court Judge Don Cosby, presiding from Fort Worth, issued a ruling June 30 granting the Fort Worth Diocese’s motion to dismiss the monastery’s complaint, which…
Irish neutrality: Positive, active and constructive
Tobias Winright My family and I moved to Maynooth from Saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States nearly a year ago. We had visited Ireland a dozen times during the past two decades, and we were attracted to the beauty of the Emerald Isle and the hospitality of its people. Also, although it had experienced…
Historic prayer book goes on display in UK
A prayer book belonging to the priest who sheltered King Charles II has gone on display in the famous Moseley Old Hall in Wolverhampton. Fr John Huddleston’s personal missal is almost 400 years old, and was purchased by the conservation charity National Trust at auction. It’s believed that the missal, published in Paris in 1623,…
Bishop Álvarez returns to prison after talks with dictatorship break down
Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos has been sent back to prison, July 5 after negotiations between the Nicaraguan bishops and the government of dictator Daniel Ortega broke down, Nicaraguan news sources reported. According to ACI Prensa, Bishop Álvarez, of the Diocese of Matagalpa, in Managua, was released Monday, July 3 but returned to custody…
Jesus Revolution: A rollercoaster of tears, laughs and gasps
Audrey Bryce The movie is better than the book is one sentence that is not generally spoken. How often is a film considered better than the book on which it was entirely based? Well, in 2018 authors Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn delineated an inspiring story of mass spiritual revival in their novel Jesus Revolution…
A poet’s search for true faith through an Achill Island childhood
Thomas McCarthy * * * Song of the Goldfinch, by John F. Deane (Veritas, €19.99 pb/ £17.50pb) Have we forgotten how universal our secure and graceful Irish Catholic life once was? Well, that is, as the song goes, if your Dad was rich and your Mom was beautiful – true wealth, of course, was then to…
RTÉ top presenters should reduce salary by 50%
Dear Editor, Given the highly selective and well-orchestrated nature of information from our national broadcaster it seems to me that there is a grave danger that the general public are being duped into missing a central point in this whole controversy. The top-up payments to Ryan Tubridy are a minor issue in comparison with the…











