Séan Ryan The Silent Books: A Deaf Family and the Disappearing Australian-Irish Sign Language by Bernadette T. Wallis (Missionary Sisters of Service; available on Amazon.co.uk at £17.86 / Aus$30.00; www.missionarysisters.org.au) Ahearing child of parents who were both profoundly deaf, Sr Wallis has written an insightful history of her parents’ childhood, education and family life, and…
Dear Editor, I write with reference to your Web Watch article regarding American blogger Simcha Fisher (IC, 26/01/2017) who is quoted as expressing strong (some might say strident) anti-Trump views which in some respects echo those of the mainstream liberal media, and who takes the ‘pro-life establishment’ to task for supporting Mr Trump. While, on…
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has been forced to suspend his controversial war on drugs just days after Catholic Church leaders issued fresh attacks on the campaign of murder. Amid reports that police units tasked with undertaking the president’s campaign are riddled with corruption – prompting criticism from Mr Duterte – police chief Ronald…
The Catholic bishops of Mexico have lamented the executive order signed by President Donald Trump which signals the start of the process to build his notorious southern border wall. Reacting to news of the order, the bishops issued a statement in which they called for consideration on how to create employment and promote security without…
The Chaldean Patriarchate in Iraq has begun to distribute funds to dioceses and parishes to begin the rebuilding of communities in areas liberated from so-called Islamic State (ISIS). As Patriarch Raphael Louis Sako I led a delegation to the Nineveh Plain las week to view for himself the damage inflicted on homes and churches by…
Order of Malta Grand Master resigns The grand master of the Knights of Malta has resigned after Pope Francis declared all actions undertaken by him since the December dismissal of Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager “null and void”. According to the National Catholic Register, Fra’ Matthew Festing was summoned to an audience with Pope…
Students from the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan hold signs during the annual March for Life in Washington DC on January 27. Photo: CNS
Dear Editor, In regard to the incident on The Late Late Show two weeks ago where the Eucharist was openly mocked and ridiculed, it’s difficult to know what was the worst aspect of the whole sorry episode. Was it the ignorance, the gratuitous contempt shown, the studied insult to those who actually pay to keep…
Dear Editor, Prof. William Reville asserts that defining meaning in our lives is a precursor to happiness, as he concords with author Emily Esfahani Smith in her book, The Power of Meaning (IC, 12/1/2017). Taking this approach is to miss the whole point of happiness, that it is the natural state of a human being.…
Michelle McGagh Michelle McGagh describes how she saved £22,000 in just one year “You’re not buying anything? At all? For a whole year?” This is the phrase that I’ve heard a million times, usually followed by: “I could never do that!” And it’s true, most people don’t want to give up spending and treating themselves…