Bright Wings, Dappled Things: Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ with photographs of Fr Francis Browne SJ, commentary by Jo O’Donovan RSM (Messenger Publications, €17.95) Desmond Egan This brightly produced book is aimed not at specialists but at ‘beginning readers’ and within such a modest aim, it is excellent. It offers a fine selection of Hopkins’s…
Pro-life activist Michael O’Dowd is to run for election to the European Parliament. The Renua Ireland member has announced that he plans to run in the North-West Midlands constituency vowing that the theme of his campaign will be ‘Family, Community & Country’. Mr O’Dowd said that “today, if you have a traditional view, you are…
State Papers: Secrets of the powers that be These days the poet Patrick Kavanagh is seen by some as something close to a saint, certainly a man of sensitive expression and deep spirituality. But this was not the opinion in 1938 of Dublin booksellers or the gardaí in College Green barracks, as a police…
Defending and protecting human life means rejecting abortion, caring for the sick, offering a decent welcome to immigrants, valuing the contributions of the elderly, encouraging families to have children and caring for the environment, the bishops of Italy have said. “We are called to welcome life before and after its birth, in every condition and…
The Sunday Papers. A History of Ireland’s Weekly Press edited by Joe Breen and Mark O’Brien (Four Courts Press, €55.00) Joe Carroll This is a welcome scrutiny of Irish Sunday newspapers. It covers the whole of the last century and the first decade of this and, as the editors point out, shows how these weekly newspapers…
State Papers: Secrets of the powers that be Cultural goods from colonised countries whether secular or sacred, are becoming of increasing concern to colonising nations like Ireland (albeit as a part of the United Kingdom). The National Museum, for instance, has rich collections of African, Asian and American artefacts of all kinds, which are…
Bishop Silvio Jose Baez has reiterated his calls for dialogue and respecting human dignity in Nicaragua, where the president has crushed protests, closed critical media outlets and persecuted anyone – including priests – publicly opposing his administration. “Dialogue is not a fad or simple political strategy,” Bishop Baez said in his Christmas homily. “When we…
Amid Lebanon’s political and economic strife and uncertainty in the Middle East, Catholic patriarchs urged their faithful to forge ahead in hope at Christmastime. At least two patriarchs expressed concern about Lebanon’s failure to form a new government since parliamentary elections in May. In his Christmas message, Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics,…
State Papers: Echoes of the past from the archives Controversy over the Irish National Anthem is a continuing matter. It was certainly so in the late 1980s To some, ‘The Soldier’s Song’ seemed inappropriate for today. A nun from Bessbrook wrote to the Taoiseach that she had attended an event at which the audience…
In Christmas message, Pope prays for peace Delivering his formal Christmas message and blessing, Pope Francis prayed for a world where all people would recognise that they are brothers and sisters and would work for justice and for peace. The birth of Jesus proclaims that “God is a good father and we are all brothers and sisters. This truth is the…