We should be prepared to share the Eucharist with “surprising others”, Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told participants at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. “In the meal hosted by the Lord, persons recognise a close neighbour, a fellow sinner, a sister, a brother with a place at the table,” he said at the congress in…
Francis answers questions from children around the world “What did God do before the world was made?” is one of 30 questions from children around the world the Pope tackles in a book to be published on March 1. Dear Pope Francis, published by Loyola Press, and illustrated with drawings by children aged 6-13, was first proposed to the Pontiff by Fr…
Fr Bernard Healy Cebu congress hears that the Eucharist offers something to all cultures, writes Fr Bernard Healy As I leave Cebu after the 51st Eucharistic Congress, I realise that that it was the catechesis given by the irrepressible Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila that best reflected my experience as an Irish pilgrim here in…
Dear Editor, I am so fed up of hearing people say the Catholic Church needs to get their hands off ‘our schools’, as if the Church has stolen the schools in some sinister way. The Church owns the schools because it built them, or to be more precise the Catholics of the parish built them…
We need to nurture our psychological health as we would our physical health, to overcome problems and build a sense of joy, writes Dr Keith Gaynor In the 10 years I have been a psychologist, I have met hundreds of people in the course of my work. Many have struggled with extraordinary psychological and emotional…
Killers of the King: the men who dared to execute Charles I by Charles Spencer (Bloomsbury, £8.99pb) J. Anthony Gaughan A book by Princess Diana’s brother would be certain to be of wide interest. But in this account of the vengeance that pursued the men who ordered the death of Charles I he has found…
Dear Editor, I write in response to your article in last week’s paper (IC 21//01/2016) which suggests that the Archdiocese of Dublin could face a 70% drop in the number of its priests by the year 2030. The research paper concludes that the optimal solution to the priest shortage in the diocese “is probably a…
Members of Tullamore Junior Parish Pastoral Council explain their work In 2006 the Junior Parish Pastoral Council (JPPC) was founded in Tullamore parish, Co. Offaly as a way of giving young people a voice in the Church. The JPPC is made up exclusively of secondary school students. Pupils first hear about it in sixth class…
Jim Noonan OCD The Eighth Day, selected writings of Christian Bobin translated by Pauline Matarasso (Darton, Longman & Todd, £12.99) An inspirational French author, Christian Bobin is a prolific writer, producing over 50 books, in more than 30 years, and has been a bestseller (his books have sold over 200,000 copies per edition) in France for many…
Silence and Thomas Merton The Powerball Lottery in the USA has been much in the news recently, partly because of the huge prize on offer to the lucky winner, or it seems, winners: $1.6 billion. Just think of that in terms of aid for famine and flood victims. What could an individual not do with…