Catholic bishops from the United States and Mexico have spoken forcefully against the climate of fear for migrants and others which has arisen in America since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. In separate gatherings, prelates made statements to denounce “the exclusion and marginalisation” which threaten to divide families and punish the most vulnerable. In…
The condition of a Christian community in any given nation of the Middle East is “an indicator of security and stability” a leading Russian prelate has told ambassadors drawn from the Arab world. In an address to a gathering of 11 diplomats in Moscow, Metropolitan Hilarion chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church…
Pope considering trip to famine-struck South Sudan Pope Francis has revealed he is considering the possibility of an official trip to South Sudan. Days after he made a plea for the international community to respond to “a severe food crisis, which has hit the Horn of Africa region [and] condemns to death by starvation millions…
Dear Editor, Mary Kenny should be thanked for her musings on ‘Fr D’Arcy’s reflections on a parallel life’ (IC 23/02/2017), which have injected some reality into what seems an interminable drone in favour of married priests. Fr D’Arcy’s comment that he would have been a far better priest had he married is, of course, balderdash,…
Michelle Manley Michelle Manley describes the work of Dublin’s new Youth Evangelisation Team The Archdiocese of Dublin has established a new Youth Evangelisation Team, tasked with faith outreach to teenagers and young adults. The central hub for this exciting new venture is right in the heart of Dublin in St Paul’s Church at Arran Quay…
Felix M. Larkin There are many connections between Ireland and Tasmania, and not only because of the latter’s status as a penal colony in the first half of the 19th Century. These connections are reflected in a beautiful stained glass window in St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Hobart. Erected in 1995, the window is dedicated…
Why Not? How to Bring the Liturgy About by Turlough Baxter (Veritas, €8.99) This little book consists of thoughts on the liturgy that originally appeared in Intercom, the pastoral and liturgical resource magazine, over the last dozen years or so. Though aimed by Turlough Baxter at his fellow clergy, it will be read with by many…
Long before he assumed the highest office in the United States, President Donald Trump’s contradictory statements on everything from the war in Iraq to abortion were subjected to quizzically raised brows and prime-time debates. None of which has done the billionaire businessman any harm as he harangues and denounces anyone brazen enough to try and…
Dear Editor, The State-funded Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is now campaigning for abortion. In its statement to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on February 13 in Geneva, and in its report submitted to the committee in January, it focused on “a woman’s right to bodily autonomy” and…
I Believe: The Promise of the Creed by Pope Francis (Orbis Books / Alban Books, £14.99) This is the American translation of a book which originally appeared in German in 2015. It has been edited by Stephan von Kempis, who has picked out from a wide range of the Pope’s writings and talks, passages that…