Mother Teresa’s imitation of Christ provides an example for us all, writes Amy Welborn No modern figure has been more revered as a saint in life, so the rapid progress of Mother Teresa’s cause from her death to her canonisation within two decades came as no surprise. From the day Mother Teresa rode on a…
Scott Richert A decade or more ago, I went to Confession one Saturday afternoon. Like many other priests, the particular confessor who heard my confession that day frequently defaulted to three Hail Marys as the standard penance that he assigned. But not that day. Whether led by something I had confessed or by his own…
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe How we live our lives is substantially different from how our parents and grandparents lived theirs. We no longer need to wait a whole week for the next episode of a favourite TV show; we can watch all five seasons in a single binge. We don’t have to buy tickets or drive…
Thomas McCarthy Testament, Micheal O’Siadhail (Baylor University Press, $24.99/ €22.99; distributed in Europe by Eurospan, email: direct.orders@marston.co.uk) In the Irish poetry world Micheal O’Siadhail has been a writer of towering brilliance for over 40 years. A life dedicated to language and ethics has seen him study in great depth both the structure of the…
Cindy Wooden Pope Francis continually calls Catholics to go to the “peripheries,” and that is exactly what he will do August 31 when he boards a plane to Mongolia. Bordering both Russia and China, Mongolia is one of the few countries St John Paul II did not manage to visit, although plans were well underway…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: My new parish priest’s wife died before he became a priest. He sometimes even talks about his grandchildren during the homily. Why is this allowed? He obviously wasn’t always celibate, and I thought priests had to be celibate? A: Latin (a.k.a. “Roman”) Catholic priests are indeed expected to be celibate.…
Frank Litton Regime Change: Towards a Postliberal Future, Patrick J. Deneen (Forum Press/an imprint of Swift Press, £22.00/€27.50) Patrick J. Deneen’s Regime Change has attracted a good deal of attention. Reviewers have acknowledged his intelligence, his command of political philosophy and praised his writing skills. But they have baulked at his conclusions, claiming that…
Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, said August 19 that a community of Carmelites in his diocese, and their prioress in particular, may have incurred excommunication after posting a letter online on August 18 saying their community no longer recognises his authority, claiming that he has interfered with and humiliated them since initiating…
Charity offers supports for children returning to school An Irish children’s charity are aiming to help young people returning to school, as well as those transitioning from primary to secondary school. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) have highlighted their ‘Smart Moves’ resource. The charity said they are aware of the…
The Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua suspended operations August 16 after Nicaraguan authorities branded the school a “centre of terrorism” the previous day and froze its assets for confiscation – actions marking an escalation in the regime’s repression of the Catholic Church and its charitable and educational projects The Jesuit province in Central America…