Your redemption is at hand

Fr Joshua J. Whitfield   Jer 33:14-16 Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 1 Thes 3:12—4:2 Lk 21:25-28, 34-36   Aside from being one of the fathers of monasticism, St Benedict is also one of the more profound spiritual doctors of Advent. At least I have long considered him thus. I think of him every Advent…

A Eucharistic Word: Waiting

Michael R. Heinlein Learning to wait is an important skill to acquire. I am reminded of its importance almost daily as I help my young children come to understand it – and, of course, in that process come to understand it more and more in my own life, too. “Patience is a virtue” I heard…

Men behaving beastly

Greg Erlandson “Why do men become beasts?” The question was asked by South African Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale. He was warning men that they will be held accountable for the treatment of women. “The Son of God will make us pay for all the things we have done, or not done,” the archbishop said. He…

Exploring the nature of our Southern Protestant neighbours

Southern Irish Protestant – Histories, Lives & Literatures, by Ian d’Alton (Eastwood / Wordwell, €25.00 / £22.95)   Robert Marshall   Ian d’Alton was born in Dublin, moving to Cork at the outset of his teenage years.  He graduated from University College Cork. There he read history under Oliver MacDonagh before going up to Peterhouse…

Illiana Ochoa Bravo    A priest’s prayer was answered after a baptismal font was “beautifully” restored and given to St Crona’s Church.  Fr Johnny Moore from the Diocese of Raphoe told The Irish Catholic, “the baptismal font is a representation of bringing the old into the new.” When Fr Moore become the parish priest of the church…

Madalaine Elhabbal (CNA) A recently released report from a European watchdog group has found nearly 2,500 documented instances of hate crimes against Christians living in Europe. Approximately 1,000 of these attacks took place in France. According to the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) report, which drew on both police and civil…

AI ethics at the Vatican

Justin McLellan The Catholic Church has a valuable role to play in providing “clear moral leadership” to protect humanity from the negative impact of new technology, a leading AI researcher said under the vaulted ceiling of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences headquarters in the Vatican Gardens. Speaking at a forum on artificial intelligence development last October, Max Tegmark, a…

Proud to proclaim my Faith

I’ve often heard people say that faith is dying and that the Church is in decline, but I strongly disagree, says Estefania Pryma   As someone who grew up attending Catholic schools, participating in youth groups, and attending various Catholic events, you might think I had a deep connection to my faith from an early…