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Colm Fitzpatrick and Greg Daly Parishioners need to go the extra mile in reaching out to family and friends who are no longer practicing the Faith, bishops have urged. Given decreasing numbers of people attending Mass in Ireland, bishops have said the laity need to be creative and original in bringing back those who have fallen away. After…
With bishops urging parishioners to be “creative and original” in encouraging family members and friends to come back to the Faith, the initiatives they have developed in their own dioceses set a shining example of how Catholics can be innovative in their own personal spheres of influence. The Mercy on the Mall event which has…
Preparing for Christmas can take the stress out of the day, writes Colm Fitzpatrick There are certain facts that you can only learn about by growing older: time is a limited resource; your health is a priority; and of course, Christmas is really stressful. For kids, this festive day is almost other-worldly, where they…
Children’s Corner There are literally hundreds of thousands of magic tricks that exist today, each of which have their distinct subtleties or presentations. The majority of these tricks, however, can be reduced down to single-word effects like disappearance or transformation. One popular effect created by magicians is penetration – the idea of piercing or…
The dramatic marriage between Mary and Joseph was a ground-breaking moment in history, writes Colm Fitzpatrick When we think of an image of Mary and Joseph together, the first picture that usually comes to mind is the nativity scene in the stable or perhaps the flight to Egypt from King Herod, but often forgotten…
Wellbeing programmes in Faith schools could do more to help protect students from mental health issues, a leading Irish theologian has said. Tuam-based priest Prof. Eamonn Conway and Dr Kerry Greer of Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College have said that emerging resilience programmes in Irish schools lack a scientific basis, and that the notion of Christian…
While Christmas is usually a time most of us look forward to, social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said homeless people dread the festive season. Speaking to the paper as the trust launched its 2017 annual report, Fr McVerry said that Christmas is the most “depressing day of the year” for homeless people as they…
Christian hope and resilience go hand in hand, writes Colm Fitzpatrick In a world that is becoming increasingly characterised by conflict, confusion and uncertainty, the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity is a value more prized than ever before. While it’s easy to ignore our own failings or struggles and coil…
A Cork-based priest has condemned a vandalism attack of a nativity scene at one the city’s oldest ecclesiastical structures. Just hours after its unveiling on December 2, the Red Abbey Crib, located behind the railings inside the landmark abbey tower, was trespassed and vandalised. After the official light switch-on at the crib on Saturday night,…
The Church needs you as much as you need it, writes Colm Fitzpatrick If God loves all of us, why doesn’t he explicitly reveal himself to everyone so that there would be no doubt of his existence? Surely, if God can do all logically possible things it would be a piece of cake for…