The Notebook Bernard Cotter “You’ll be very busy coming up to Christmas, Father.” As a newly-ordained priest, this frequently-repeated greeting in November and December confused me. I couldn’t figure how Christmas could make life even busier for me than every other month. I asked my senior and wiser colleague, who explained gently that I…
With so much suffering, poverty and exploitation in the world, missionary work must also include reaching out to people whose hearts are closed to receiving immigrants and refugees, Pope Francis told Jesuits in a private meeting in Myanmar, according to transcripts released this week. “Unfortunately, in Europe there are countries that have chosen to close…
The View Martin Mansergh ‘Peace on earth and mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled’. These lines from the first verse of the well-known carol ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ reflect the human desire for harmony and reconciliation, and for a breathing-space from life’s battles during the Christmas season and at the close of the old year. It is one of the…
SHARE students Caoimhe Corkery, Laura Harrington and Elaine O’Brien pictured at the blessing of the SHARE (Students Harness Aid for the Relief of the Elderly) crib on Daunt Square in Cork. Almost 1,800 fourth and fifth-year students from 21 Cork schools will be on the city centre streets up to and including Christmas Eve to…
Pope Francis has written a letter to Argentine Bishops praising them for their documents which outline ways in which priests should apply the teaching of his apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. The Pope was responding to a document by the bishops entitled ‘Basic criteria for the application of chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia’ which details ways…
The Vatican has launched its new multimedia communications website, centralising all of its media operations. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke announced ahead of the beta form launch that vaticannews.va and the accompanying production centre were simply the “first visible and concrete expression” of the unified approach to communications the Pope and his cardinal advisers had requested,…
Before his big birthday concert this January, Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan has said he still prays, takes Communion and believes in miracles. In an interview before his star-studded gig at the National Concert Hall (NCH), Mr MacGowan said his mother was a woman of very strong Faith, and that he believes in miracles, saying: “I’ve…
Salesian Fr Thomas Uzhunnalil, who was released from 18-month’s captivity in strife-torn Yemen last September, was awarded the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice. The Harmony Foundation, a volunteer group based in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, honoured the Catholic priest under the theme “compassion without borders”. Suspected Islamic terrorists kidnapped Fr Uzhunnalil, a missionary in Yemen, last…
‘The Little Angel’ in Junior Infants, Guardian Angels’ International School, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. Photo: Anne Collins.
A trio of Nigerian bishops condemned the enslavement of Nigerians who travelled to Libya for work, calling the practice a horrific abuse of human dignity. Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan, retired Archbishop Alaba Job of Ibadan and retired Bishop Julius Adelakun of Oyo called on the Nigerian government to act on behalf of Nigerian nationals…