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…
Pro-life ‘feedback meetings’ being held A leading pro-life group will be running ‘feedback meetings’ to listen to ideas and strategies that will go towards helping to protect Ireland’s unborn children and their mothers following the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. LoveBoth, who have been instrumental in the Irish pro-life movement, are running surveys to hear peoples’ thoughts on how…
Dear Editor, Oh! To be a minority! This seems to be the cry of many Catholics since the referendum in relation to the Church pulling back from education. They could then prioritise Faith formation in the remaining schools the respondents opined. This echoes what Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has been saying for some time. It highlights…
The Notebook Fr Bernard Healy Recently Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry launched a book that was banned by one of his predecessors. The book – Fr. Ferris’s Parish Histories: BallymacElligott, Ballyseedy, O’Brennan and Nohoval – was ready for printing in 1932, but Bishop Michael O’Brien put a stop to its publication. The eponymous Fr…