Mourning the deaths of protesters in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the Vatican’s observer at UN agencies in Geneva urged people on both sides to let “wisdom and prudence prevail”. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic spoke at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council dedicated to discussing “the deteriorating human rights situation in the…
Pro-life campaigners have reacted with scepticism to the SDLP’s decision to retain its pro-life policy while allowing members to campaign for pro-choice policies. The party decided at a conference on Saturday to adopt a formal position of being pro-life, but with individual members allowed to choose their own stance on abortion as a matter of…
Fr Bernard Healy This Easter, as the deacon read St Luke’s account of how the women brought spices to Our Lord’s tomb on the first Easter morning, something popped into my mind. I was reminded of a radio documentary from the RTÉ website called ‘Con Carey and the Twelve Apostles’. Con was a 69-year…
Pat O’Kelly The NCH’s 2017/18 International Concert Series is coming to a close. One programme remains on June 12 – the first visit here of the Würth Philharmonic with Russian-born violinist Maxim Vengerov as both soloist and conductor. The principal works are Max Bruch’s evergreen 1st Concerto and Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, which almost tops…
The founder of the suicide prevention charity Pieta House has said it is important to remember the human stories behind mental health statistics. New figures have revealed that almost 17,000 children between five and 17 are waiting over a year to see a psychologist. The charity’s founder Joan Freeman said that many parents and children…
Well-known church reopens Knock Parish Church and Apparition Chapel reopened on Friday, May 18, after having been closed for months for refurbishment works. Both the church and Apparition Chapel have been closed since last October to make way for complete refurbishment. Speaking about the refurbishment, Fr Richard Gibbons, PP, Rector of Knock Shrine said: “The Parish Church…
Dear Editor, It was heartwarming to read how the Vatican has given permission for an investigation to begin into the sanctity of Fr Ragheed Ganni and his fellow martyred clerics, opening the door to these inspirational men being raised to the altars of the Church (IC 17/5/2018). Anyone who knows anything about these men won’t…
A Little Book of Encouragement edited by Vinita Hampton Wright, adapted from Sacred Space the Prayer Book (Messenger Publications, €9.95) The items in this book have been adapted from the prayer site, but this book is small enough to fit in a briefcase, pocket or handbag. Here are warm words of encouragement that will lift the…
Claire Giangravè Only 11 miles away from the Turkish coast, the Greek spearhead-shaped island of Rhodes is accustomed to seeing Muslims docking on its rocky shores. In the past, religious knights took arms against these strangers, but today a handful of friars warmly welcomes them with food and clothes. When Franciscan Friar John Luke…
The return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar has again stalled after Bangladesh and Myanmar officials failed to fix a start date for actual repatriation. A Joint Working Group responsible for overseeing the repatriation of Rohingya refugees held its second meeting in four months in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, but were unable to agree on a date…