Family and Civilization by Carle Zimmerman ed. and abridged by James Kurth (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, € 9.91).
Courtney McGrail
The World of Books
The Books Editor How often do you over hear someone, in a book shop or over a stall at a parish fete, as often as not women, for women are greater readers than men, saying: “Oh, I have read that… I think”. Back the book goes on the shelf or the jumble sale stall. With…
Pope Francis meets with Parish Cell participants
In April of this year Parish Cells of Evangelisation received permanent recognition from the Pontifical Council for the Laity. To bestow this recognition Pope Francis issued an invitation to all cell people from around the world to meet with him in the Vatican earlier this month. Over 5,000 people from all over the world, 124…
Annual Matt Talbot Novena begins in Kilrush & Shannon
For nine Mondays and Tuesdays, starting on Monday, September 28 in St Senan’s Church Kilrush and on Tuesday, September 29 in SS John & Paul Church Shannon, people will gather each week at the Shrine of Matt Talbot, to pray and intercede for people suffering or sharing in the life of addictions. Now in its…
While Europe wavers, Rome welcomes migrants
The European Union “was born to knock down walls, not to build them” according to Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, criticising Hungary’s erection of a border fence to regulate the movements of asylum seekers. “If you stop the flow in that direction, we have to pose the problem of how to respond to the urge…
Christians welcome Nepal’s secular constitution
Christian efforts to ensure that Nepal’s new constitution would confirm the state’s secular nature have been successful after the country’s constituent assembly rejected proposals to introduce an article identifying Nepal as a “Hindu religious country” into the constitution. The new constitution was approved on September 16 and came into effect on September 20, replacing an…
Nigerian Church praises recall of dismissed soldiers
The Church in Nigeria has praised the decision to recall 3,032 soldiers dismissed by the previous military authorities. Msgr Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications in the Archdiocese of Lagos, described the army’s decision as “a morale booster that would encourage troops fighting the insurgents in the northeastern part of the country to do their…
Bro. Guy new head of Vatican Observatory
Pope Francis has picked Bro. Guy Consolmagno SJ as the new director of the Vatican Observatory. A planetary scientist who has studied meteorites and asteroids with the observatory since 1993, Bro. Consolmagno studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lectured there and at Harvard College Observatory before joining the Jesuit order in 1989. In…
Honduras is full of hate – cardinal
Tegucigalpa’s Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga has said his homeland of Honduras is full of hate and needs to change, because “the future of the world is not found in a life without God and without the reference to the values of the Gospel”. “We cannot go on like this,” said the cardinal, adding, “hate…
Bishops visit Calais ‘jungle’
English and French Church leaders along with 2000 supporters from across western Europe took part in a ‘Refugee Welcome’ day of action at Calais' refugee camp on Saturday, September 19. Southwark’s Archbishop Peter Smith and Dr Jean-Paul Jaegar, Bishop of Arras, were joined by the Church of England Bishop of Dover, Trevor Wilmott at the…