The Books Editor “At exactly 15 minutes past eight in the morning on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and…
Courtney McGrail
In Knock, God identifies with a broken people
The apparition at Knock symbolises hope for suffering people, writes Archbishop Michael Neary
Armagh clergy appointments
Archbishop Eamon Martin has announced a number of changes to clergy appointments in the Archdiocese of Armagh which will take effect from August 22. The diocese’s two newly ordained priests have been appointed to parishes. Fr Aidan McCann to be CC Dungannon and Fr Brian Slater to be CC St Patrick’s, Dundalk. Three priests, Mgsr…
Back to school costs increase
A survey by Barnardos has found that the overall costs of sending a child to school have gone up this year compared with 2014. It takes €785 to put a child through their first year of secondary school, an increase of €50 and it costs €365 for a senior infant, up €20 euro. The average…
Bishop Leahy addresses Focolare gathering
Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick was among an Irish delegation of 120 people who travelled to the Focolare summer gathering at Hope University in Liverpool last week. Addressing the summer gathering, jointly hosted by Focolare in the UK and Ireland, Bishop Leahy said that when Focolare started in 1943 the founders could “hardly have imagined…
Direct Provision here to stay
The Government has ruled out removing the controversial direct provision system for asylum seekers and refugees. Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said it is “not feasible” to say there are alternatives to direct provision and the Government is instead concentrating on improvements to the system to fast-track application decisions. She said direct provision is “not…
Kilmore priest appointed to Vatican
Fr Enda Murphy, a priest of the Diocese of Kilmore, has been appointed by the Vatican Secretariat of State to serve in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments of the Roman Curia. Fr Murphy is a native of Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh. He studied at Queen's University, Belfast, the Gregorian University in Rome and,…
New UCC chaplains named
Two new chaplains have been appointed to University College Cork (UCC) as part of an agreement between the college and the Diocese of Cork and Ross. Nathan Williams and Brett Cavanaugh, both graduates of the University of Notre Dame in the US, will take up their positions at the beginning of the upcoming academic year,…
Man pleads guilty to robbing nun
A man who pleaded guilty to knocking over an elderly nun in the centre of Limerick City and snatching her handbag, has been remanded in custody for sentencing. Joe Roche, 30, approached two elderly nuns, aged 75 and 78, as they walked along O’Connell Street on the morning of January 3. He snatched a handbag…
Two Nigerian priests appointed to Kilmore
Bishop Leo O’Reilly has announced the appointment of two priests from Nigeria to parishes in the Diocese of Kilmore among this year’s new clerical appointments. Fr Addison Okpeh and Fr Peter Okpetu are both members of the Missionary Society of St Paul of Nigeria and they are the first Nigerian priests to receive appointments in…