Pól Ó Muirí There was a united Ireland of sorts in May when the electorate on the island’s two jurisdictions, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, cast their votes in local and European Union elections. Ironically, it was the party most associated with a united Ireland, Sinn Féin, which did worst at the ballot…
Virtual candles and online petitions will be high-tech ways of giving Limerick’s Redemptorist community a global reach. Dubbed by one man “the Munster final of religion”, the annual Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is expected to draw thousands of people from all over north Munster and beyond. In this multi-media age,…
Mark Patrick Hederman In a homily delivered in Belfast’s St Anne’s Cathedral, Mark Patrick Hederman OSB, reflects on the life of the Duchess of Abercorn Alexandra Hamilton – known as Sacha – who died on December 9, 2018. Dear Friends of Sacha, We are not here today to bury our beloved. That happened, most appropriately,…
UNCORKING SCIENCE Christianity has always been a strong proponent of merging faith with science so that we can learn more about ourselves, the world around us, and our origins. Promoting the importance of empirical inquiry this month is the Cork Carnival of Science at Fitzgerald Park, which features non-stop, family-friendly experiments, interactive activities, games, street…
Couples with no faith who want a church marriage are exploiting a sacred service, a Cork-based priest has said. Fr Tomás Walsh SMA of Gurranabraher said that couples who seek a Catholic wedding without having any faith themselves are taking advantage the religious ceremony. “I think that a lot of the church marriages that go…
Louise Hall On June 24, 1981, six young children claimed to have seen a vision of Our Lady on a small hill called Podbrdo in the poor Catholic farming village of Medjugorje. Although they ran away terrified at the sight of the apparition, they returned to the same spot at the same time the following…
Finbar O’Leary It was the Feast of St John the Baptist on the June 24, 1981, when the young visionaries had their first encounter with Our Lady or Gospa in Croatian. Frightened and bewildered they ran away. Returning the following evening Vicka still only 16 years of age and the eldest of the six carried…
Aleksandra Januszewska and Gabriela Zarzycka A couple of weeks ago, we had a very spontaneous idea to go together on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Medjugorje is a small village in Bosnia and Hercegovina where the Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing since 1981. We are sisters – the elder Aleksandra is a busy homeschooling mother…
Carmel Kelly With the boys both married and after my mother’s death in 1994, my husband Bill and I were free agents and enjoyed the following few years having no one to really worry about and going wherever we wanted to. A regular thing with myself and some friends was a biannual visit to Lourdes.…
Ann Corrigan This is our experience of a trip to Medjugorje in a little village in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Counting down the days to ApriI 22, 2019, I would join a group parish pilgrimage to Medjugorje. One day out of the blue the husband of my sister Margaret said that he would be on holidays…