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…
A leading Irish theologian has been awarded a prestigious visiting scholarship in Australia. Mary Immaculate College’s Prof. Eamonn Conway, a regular contributor to The Irish Catholic, has been appointed the 2017 SSJG Visiting Scholar to Perth’s University of Notre Dame, and will begin his 12-week appointment early next month. The Limerick-based theologian’s first engagement there…
Grace Fitzgerald Grace Fitzgerald describes a school pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick Last month 60 fourth year students from Laurel Hill Secondary School in Limerick, ventured over to Mayo to undertake one of Ireland’s highest mountain, Croagh Patrick. Tensions were high when we first spotted our initial glimpse of our hike to come, especially when the…
Declan Marmion Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident by Peter Stanford (Hodder & Stoughton, £20.00) When Martin Luther allegedly pinned his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 he had little idea of the theological and political tumult he was about to unleash in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.…
Shouldering the Lamb: Reflections on an Icon by Richard Clarke (Dominican Publications, €12.00) This is the second book of Dr Richard Clarke, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh. It has already won praise from his episcopal neighbour, Archbishop Éamon Martin. Taking the almost universal image of Christ as a shepherd carrying a lamb to safety…
Christopher Moriarty Europe’s Atlantic Fringe: Exploring the west coasts of Portugal, Spain and Ireland by Michael Fewer (Ashfield Press, €25) Michael Fewer combines scholarship with readability in an impressive number of books about Ireland, Irish people and Irish architecture. In his latest work he widens the range by the addition of two countries, Portugal and…
The World of Books There are many people who see the Church of the Middle Ages as being an institution not only at the peak of its sanctity, but also as a model from which modern society can learn. I suspect that this view, especially in Ireland, owes much to the views of Chesterton and…