Caritas ‘SOS’ for South Sudan

A Caritas director in one Catholic diocese in South Sudan has warned that “the humanitarian situation…is getting to a catastrophic stage”. Writing after the official announcement of famine in the country, William Okot de Toby, who oversees the work of the Church’s development agency in the Diocese of Torit in the far south-east, said: “Hunger…

Who we are and what we want to be

In a Landscape Redrawn by Bishop Donal Murray (Veritas, €10.99/£9.35) Though it is not presented as a Lenten book, Donal Murray’s latest book is very much the sort of book which will provide readers with many insights in the way things are. He is writing very much for those who find the ‘redrawn landscape’ of…

End of an era in Blackrock is well marked

Monody for a Much Loved Bookshop by Louis Hemmings, illustrated by Dora Kazmierak Carraig Books, a long-established bookshop in Blackrock  village, is to close soon, certainly before the end of the year. It is one of the few second-hand bookshops that carry a large stock of philosophical and religious books, but as the owner explained…

Making a virtue from necessity

Fr Conor McDonough OP As part of their 2017 celebrations, Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day Festival commissioned a poem, ‘My Ireland’, by Stephen James Smith, available now on YouTube. It’s a kaleidoscope of incongruous impressions of contemporary Ireland and its various mythologies, with some very moving parts and powerfully complemented by the accompanying music and images.…

Priests warn of death of rural Ireland

Mags Gargan and Greg Daly Parishes are urged to fill the gap Parish priests have warned that reports of the proposed closure of up to 80 post offices in towns and villages across the country will lead to the death of rural Ireland. “The last person out should switch off the lights,” said Fr Edward…