Pope Francis discussed natural disasters, refugees and jobs with the Italian president last week. With recent earthquakes causing havoc in central Italy and large amounts of refugees entering the country from the Middle East the Italian administration have been under intense pressure. There has also been a scramble to create jobs, especially for young people.…
The acidification of oceans will have drastic environmental consequences, speakers told a UN conference last week. Over 3,500 people representing countries, UN agencies and non-governmental organisations attended the conference on sustainable development. Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana said that effective regulations to safeguard the world’s oceans are being blocked by “those who are profiting most…
Dear Editor, Your front page story last week (08/06/2017) about Bríd Smith’s comments that the Church should be thrown in the “dustbin”, depressed me more than anything else. I have gone past the stage of anger and outrage, at how easy and popularly acceptable it has become to attack the Catholic Church. I would imagine…
Buried lives: The Protestants of Southern Ireland by Robin Bury (History Press, €20.00) In 1965, Michael Viney published an influential pamphlet, The Five Percent: A Survey of Protestants in the Republic, reprinting a series of articles from The Irish Times. The title gave its name to a sociological anxiety: will the five percent shrink to four…
Martin Luther: An Ecumenical Perspective by Walter Kaspar, Translated from the German by William Madges (Paulist Press, 14.99) This is a brief but very significant pamphlet by an important theologian. Walter Kasper is a German cardinal and the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, whose continuing programme of reconciliation emerged from…
Dublin’s Christchurch Cathedral is set to host 180 choristers from across the USA next month at a concert in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation. The second Dublin Choral Festival, to be held in the cathedral at 8pm on July 8, will see the American choristers from states as far apart as New Mexico and…
Theresa May’s plan to govern with support from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) may jeopardise a proposed visit by Pope Francis to the North, according to diplomatic sources in Rome. According to Vatican diplomatic sources quoted in the respected Italian daily La Stampa, “cooler heads in the [Vatican] Secretariat of State may be saying this…
There has been a decline in Irish abortion numbers for the 15th consecutive year. According to the official statistics released by the British Department of Health, 3,265 women travelled from Ireland to England to have an abortion. This number stems from a continual drop since 2001 where the number of Irish abortions was 6,673. “Reasons…
Kieran Stafford, newly elected National President of the Society of St Vincent De Paul (SVP), has promised to focus on alleviating the financial and emotional hurdles of struggling local communities. Succeeding Geoff Meagher who held the position for the past five years, Stafford has reconfirmed that the Vincentian ethos will continue to be “committed to…
Remembering those who have died or have suffered injury from accidents on Irish farms will be the focus an ecumenical remembrance service to be held in Co. Laois. Around 120 families have contacted the directors of Embrace Farm, a bereavement support group, for their loved one to be remembered this year. This annual event, which…