There has been huge demand for tickets to participate at events with Pope Francis with tickets for Knock being snapped up in just over four hours. Organisers of the World Meeting of Families confirmed that the Dublin-based pastoral congress is also booked out with some 37,000 pilgrims registered from 114 countries. As of lunchtime on…
With less than eight weeks until Pope Francis visits Ireland, attention is focusing on his teachings and what his message will be to the Church in Ireland. Here we publish a study guide to the Pope’s most recent document Gaudete et Exsultate prepared by Prof. Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and Greg Daly,…
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, said last week he will no longer exercise any public ministry “in obedience” to the Vatican after an allegation he abused a teenager 47 years ago was found credible. Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, where Cardinal McCarrick served as its first bishop, said in a statement…
Gemma Mulligan A lot can be said for the inspirational nature of the Icon of the Holy Family, as it travels from diocese to diocese and parish to parish, but for one priest in the Diocese of Ossory it led to the creation of a “reflective” piece of music. During the icon’s travels this month…
Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard by Cynthia L. Haven (Studies in Violence, Mimesis and Culture series / Michigan State University Press, US$29.95 pb) Frank Litton René Girard, who died in 2015, was one of the leading thinkers of our era – a provocative sage who bypassed prevailing orthodoxies to offer a bold, sweeping vision of…
A Vatican court has found Msgr Carlo Alberto Capella, a former staff member at the Vatican nunciature in Washington, guilty of possessing and distributing child pornography. Judge Giuseppe Della Torre, head of the tribunal of the Vatican City State sentenced Msgr Capella to five years in prison and fined him €5,000. The Vatican press office…
Unless we remember how painfully the promises of economic growth were shown to be hollow we may have much more misery in store, writes Kevin Hargaden If we take a moment to recall what it is to remember, we quickly realise that memory is one of the great gifts of life. Consider the stories…
Discovering the Boyne Valley by Noel French (Mercier Press., €14.99) Christopher Moriarty A small river, in quite a small country, yet a portion of the Boyne Valley contains an amazing wealth of solid remnants which incorporate a huge spectrum of human civilisation. A day trip can include them all and a good guidebook can outline the…
Matthew Carlson A prominent pro-life group has said that the ‘Rally for Life’ in Belfast will show the world that support for protecting unborn children “remains strong” in Ireland. Organisers of the rally, which is taking place by the Stormont Parliament Buildings on July 7 at 2pm, said that despite the ‘Yes’ vote in the…
The question of allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion at Mass in special cases has to be decided by each individual bishop and cannot be decided by a bishops’ conference, Pope Francis told reporters after a one-day ecumenical journey to Geneva. During an inflight news conference the Pope was asked about his recent…