The great hero of America’s awful day

Father Mychal Judge, An Authentic American Hero by Michael Ford (Paulist Press, £15.99) Anthony Redmond Fr Judge, an Irish American Franciscan, died in the attack on the World Trade Centre as he gave the Last Rites to a dying fireman. During the last weeks of his life, Fr Mychal Judge had been reading the biography…

Dear Editor, Over the past couple of weeks, I have read numerous articles in relation to the recent controversy surrounding Maynooth seminary. These have included speculation regarding the priesthood and what form it should take in this time.  There are some who believe that our more recently ordained priests are of a more traditional mindset…

Rehousing the Central Catholic library

Dear Editor, Peter Costello has written a fascinating article (Preserving the Catholic Library for another Century IC, 25/8/16) about the Central Catholic library. I have a long association with the library (indeed, I was one of the many UCD students who availed of the library’s treasures in the 1960s and 1970s). Although I am not now…

Well done, Mary Kenny on coverage of abortion issue

Dear Editor, Well done to Mary Kenny for dissecting the claim that a trip to an abortion clinic is ‘so very ordinary’ with details of some of the horrors of the abortion industry. She gives Minister for Health, Simon Harris a mention too. I wrote to the Irish Times questioning Minister Simon Harris’ congratulations to…

Breathing life into the embers of Faith

Over 250 young people gathered at All Hallows College in Drumcondra, Dublin, over the weekend of August 20-21 for a conference organised by the Legion of Mary on the theme of how Mary fires up the spirit in our souls. Among the speakers at the conference was Roger Buck, an American-born convert to Catholicism from…

God, games and remembering what really matters

Dear Editor, Thank you so much for your coverage of the Olympics in recent weeks, and especially in the issue of August 18. The Irish Catholic should be commended especially for its focus on the faith dimension of the games, something too often overlooked. In other years this might be understandable, but it is hard…

A picture worth a thousand words

Dear Editor, The photo of the four young women accompanying Greg Daly’s article (‘Keeping your range of university options open’, IC 18/08/2016) is a probably unintentional but appropriate illustration of a modern phenomenon in higher education – the vanishing male university student. Yours etc., Hugh Gibney, Athboy, Co Meath.