Dear Editor, I write to you today with a heart full of hope and a sense of urgency regarding the critical mission of promoting vocations to the priesthood in Ireland, particularly during this year when our bishops are fervently campaigning to nurture vocations to the diocesan priesthood. The call to serve as a priest is…
Second Oireachtas essay competition launched An essay competition aimed at getting young people reflecting on and discussing politics was launched by the Ceann Comhairle on Tuesday, October 17. Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD launched the all-island Oireachtas competition in Leinster House, on the theme ‘Parliamentary Politics Matters for Peace’. Students North and South are invited to…
Ruadhán Jones and Chai Brady It is “totally unacceptable” and “wrong” that a new tax meant to tackle land hoarding is being applied to religious orders vowed to poverty, politicians have said, while religious leaders warn it could “seriously impact” their way of life. The tax could force orders to fork out thousands of euro,…
Stewardship describes our whole relationship with God, writes Susan M. Erschen What is ‘stewardship’? Stewardship is perhaps one of the most misunderstood words in the Church today. Some people think it is all about money. Others think it means only time, talent and treasure. Some wonder if it is just another word for fundraising or…
SueAnn Howell ‘Unleash the Power of the Rosary’, a panel discussion hosted by Paradisus Dei and the Dominican friars of the Province of St Joseph, offered a lively discussion about the rosary as a powerful tool for evangelisation that connects people to Jesus through Mary and guides them on a journey to the centre of…
A recruitment freeze must not add further pressure to Ireland’s health service, particularly in the context of a growing and aging population and large number of refugees entering Ireland, a hospital chaplain has warned. This comes as the HSE introduced a recruitment freeze which includes junior doctors, clerical, agency and patient staff, healthcare assistants and…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: I have a question on discernment of private revelations. I don’t mean big ones like Medjugorje, etc., but individuals who say they ‘have had a word from the Lord’. Couldn’t this be just their own opinion interpreted as God talking? A: Yes, this is a concern. With these kinds of…
Church leaders in Norway have welcomed the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Jon Fosse, a Catholic convert, predicting the honour could raise Catholicism’s profile in the traditionally Protestant country. “Fosse gives voice, with elegance and beauty, to the mystery of faith… I think our country is blessed to have a poet of…
The first woman to preside over a Synod of Bishops described the experience of sitting with Pope Francis at the head table as “a gift and a grace” – and a sign of things to come in the Church. Speaking at a press briefing today, Sr Maria de los Dolores Valencia Gomez, a Sister of…
Jem Sullivan 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 45:1, 4-6 Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10 1 Thes 1:1-5b Mt 22:15-21 “I am the Lord, there is no other,” the prophet Isaiah tells us in simple, evocative words. God’s power is universal, loving, and mysterious. And all earthly power comes from God, as…