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…
Fr Vincent Sherlock “It clears your mind and eases stress”, she told me. She wasn’t alone! Nearly every child in the class had some variant of the stress reliever and mind-clearer in hand as well. They were in a variety of colours and one even glowed in the dark. Thankfully I was in touch enough to…
An apology from the Pope would help the reconciliation process between the Catholic Church and indigenous people, according to the Canadian Prime Minister. In a meeting between the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Pontiff the issue of residential schools was discussed. Mr Trudeau said he asked Pope Francis to “move forward on a real…
The Pope has dubbed the latest attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt as “another act of ferocious violence”. The most recent religious terror attack in the country left 29 dead and about 25 wounded when a bus taking the Christians to a remote monastery was fired upon. The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the…
Almost 50 people have been referred for military trial in Egypt for recent bombings that killed and injured over 100 Coptic Catholics. The suspects are thought to be behind the attacks on Cairo’s Coptic Church in December 2016 which killed 25 people, and two further bombings that killed over 45 people in April 2017 in…
Dear Editor, I believe your paper’s coverage of the blasphemy question – most recently in your Book Editor’s comments – misses the point (IC 25/05/2017). Blasphemy is not about passing comments on God, or the beliefs people hold about God; these are already explicitly allowed for in our Constitution and the law itself. Rather blasphemy…
Sr Mary Threadgold RSC Sr Mary Threadgold RSC explores ways of coping with the challenges in later life As a child, the love of my life was my grandfather. From infancy, along with my father and brother, I had lived with extended family which included grandparents, uncles and an aunt. My mother had died shortly…
Jemma Halpin Working outside the school and parish model is a challenge and an opportunity, writes Jemma Halpin Presentation Brothers Youth Ministry (PBYM) is situated in what was previously the Edmund Rice Heritage Centre at Mardyke House, Cork. The centre is now used solely for youth ministry, in line with the Presentation Brothers’ mission of…
Valerie Roche A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura by Eileen Markey (Nation Books, $US 26.99 / £21.00) It is difficult in this era of global communications to imagine what it must have been like for Sr Maura Clarke to leave behind the familiar, stable life in the convent in Ossining, New York and…
Frank Litton Dorothy Day: The world will be saved by beauty, an intimate portrait of my grandmother by Kate Hennessy (Scribner, $27.99) Thérèse by Dorothy Day, foreword by Robert Ellsberg (Christian Classics, Ave Maria Press, £12.99) Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967) and Dorothy Day (1897-1980) were both important figures in the history of north American Catholicism in…