Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should talk with the country’s religious leaders in person and not use representatives, according to a senior Church official. Fr Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the public affairs committee of the Catholic bishops’ conference, said “actual dialogue” with the president would be better. Early this week, Duterte named a four-man team to…
The pastoral centre of the Diocese of Matagalpa in central Nicaragua, whose bishop was in Rome to inform the Pope of the situation in his country, has been attacked by men armed with machetes. The attack occurred last week after two months of protests against Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega which have resulted in violence and…
International Analysis Inés San Martín If ever there’s doubt about where the Church stands on an issue, having the Pope and the majority of a local Catholic hierarchy speaking in unison pretty much resolves it. This is presently the case for Nicaragua, where, once again, Church-backed anti-government protests have ended in bloodshed. “Renewing my…
Life in the Church of Ireland 1600-1800 by Robert Wyse Jackson (Ballinakella Press, €17.50) Robert Marshall Published initially in 1941 under the title Scenes from Irish Clerical Life in the 17th and 18th Centuries, this book was written by a clergyman of the Church of Ireland who had read law at Trinity College Dublin and been called…
WMOF 2018 Jane Mellet On Wednesday June 20, in the Loyola Institute, Trinity College, Dublin, many representatives from ecological groups in Ireland attended a presentation to hear about the World Meeting of Families 2018 ‘Our Common Home’ project. This presentation, which I delivered with Dr Lorna Gold of Trócaire, offered an opportunity for those…
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…
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…
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…
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’…
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…