Over 6,000 people from all over Ireland are expected to attend a pilgrimage to Knock this month to pray for the retention of the Eighth Amendment of the constitution. Currently 23 Diocesan Eucharistic Adoration Committees, hundreds of parish Adoration Committees and others are organising transport to Knock on Sunday, April 29 to pray with the…
Jesuit son of Rising leader dies in Hong Kong
Fr Joseph Mallin SJ, the last surviving child of an executed 1916 Rising leader has died at the age of 104. Fr Mallin, a Jesuit priest based in Hong Kong since 1948, died on Easter Sunday. His father had been Comdt Michael Mallin who had led the Irish Citizens’ Army troops at St Stephen’s Green…
Mexico violence overshadows Holy Week ceremonies
A pair of passion plays were interrupted by gunfire on Good Friday as the violence convulsing Mexico continued claiming lives through the Holy Week holidays. An annual procession in Acapulco was suspended after the sound of gunshots sent participants and spectators fleeing, according to local press reports. The Guerrero state government said police were chasing…
Irish-born bishop retires
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Thomas John Curry as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for reasons of age. He has reached the retirement age for bishops of 75. The resignation was publicised in Washington, April 3, 2018, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Curry…
50 years after King’s assassination the dream remains elusive
Theresa Laurence Fr Pat Connor was on his way from a graduate class at the University of Memphis to St Joseph Hospital to visit a priest friend the evening of April 4, 1968. That’s when he heard the news crackle over his car radio speakers: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr had been critically injured…
Eighth Amendment information politically motivated
A leading pro-life activist has criticised information provided in a fact sheet outlining the implications of the planned referendum on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in Ireland, arguing that it is the product of a “political campaigning tool”. Commenting on the information published by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (IOG) of the Royal…
Pope Francis washes feet of a dozen prisoners in Rome
Before washing the feet of 12 prisoners, Pope Francis told them and hundreds of inmates to remember that Jesus constantly stands before them with love, ready to cleanse their sins and forgive them. “Jesus takes a risk on each of us. Know this: Jesus is called Jesus, not Pontius Pilate. Jesus does not know how…
Deacon’s family witnessed assassination aftermath in grief-stricken Washington
Chaz Muth Deacon Timothy Tilghman, his sister and his cousin still remember the enormous sense of loss they felt when they received that news on April 4, 1968 that Dr King had been killed. The deacon, who is on the staff of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Southeast Washington, was 15 and…
The great St Vincent: his vision and his mission continue
Vincent de Paul: The Lazarist Mission and French Catholic Reform by Alison Forrestal (Oxford University Press, £70) Clear Vision: the life and legacy of Noel Clear, Social Justice Champion, 1937-2003 by Gerry Jeffers (Veritas, €16.99) Daire Keogh Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) is synonymous with charity and virtue, but, in Ireland his popular acclaim rests largely on the…
Ordain women: why not?
The ban on women’s ordination is not based on theological speculation, but on the Apostolic tradition of the Church, writes Fr Vincent Twomey SVD On the Feast Day of our national Saint, the Irish Independent published a two-page article by management consultant Eddie Molloy: ‘Church must face appalling vista of its abominable treatment of…










