DUP leader needs to challenge religious discrimination

The leader of the DUP must put her words into action in relation to religious sectarianism, or she is simply making “empty gestures”, a Belfast-based priest has said. Fr Gary Donegan C.P., nationally renowned for his ongoing commitment to conflict resolution and peace building in the North of Ireland, said that Arlene Foster needs to…

Dump Snapchat for the good of your soul

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier (Bodley Head, £9.99) Peter
 Hegarty   Author Lanier is a disenchanted idealist, a digital pioneer who once believed that technology would improve our lives. He now associates social media with “nastiness”. People come together in a setting “in which the main – or often the…

Prayers offered across US after newspaper shooting

The Archdiocese of Baltimore offered their prayers for the victims and first responders of a shooting at a US newspaper which killed five people. An active shooter, who was taken into custody, was reported at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland at about 2.30pm Eastern time. At least five people were killed in what…

Recent Books in Brief

Smile of Joy: Mary of Nazareth by Thomas Casey SJ (Messenger Publications, €7.95) Fr Casey is currently Dean of Philosophy at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. But this book is a very personal and very human one. Using some of the familiar incidents in the Gospels that feature Mary of Nazareth he hopes he says to ‘reintroduce’…

Prayer and play at West Belfast WMOF Family Fun Day

WMOF 2018 Glen
 Phillips   The six parishes in the West Belfast Pastoral Area decided to come together and organise something for local families on June 24 in the run up to the World meeting of Families in August Dublin. The day started with a prayer service and blessing of families in St Michael’s Church. Welcome…

Life of young priest celebrated

The life of Fr Patrick Burke was celebrated in a homily by Tuam’s archbishop Michael Neary after the 38-year-old Westport-based priest died on June 25. Speaking in St Mary’s Church, Galway, where Fr Burke had his first Communion and was ordained as a priest, Archbishop Neary described the church as being Fr Burke’s “spiritual home”,…

International concert season enjoys Würthwhile finale

Pat O’Kelly   The National Concert Hall ended its 2017/18 International Concert Season recently with the first visit to Ireland of the Würth Philharmonic Orchestra. Initially I mistakenly thought Würth to be a place but closer scrutiny revealed it to be the name of an individual – the businessman, philanthropist and art collector, Reinhold Würth.…

Family News and Events

Fun in the sun It’s festivals galore this summer and one that always stands out is the annual St Anne’s Park Rose Festival which is taking place on July 14-15 from 10am-6pm each day. It takes place on Dublin’s northside where the public can enjoy woodland walks, recreational facilities and, of course, the beautiful Rose…

Unshackled by the truth

Personal Profile Matthew Carlson speaks with a Holocaust survivor   Tomi Reichental has lived quite a life, even by normal standards. He is an author, public speaker, world traveller and to top it off, is one of the last survivors of one of humanities darkest time, the Holocaust. Born in Slovakia in 1935, Tomi has…