Turkish coup investigators to look at ‘Vatican link’ Members of the Turkish Commission of Inquiry into the failed July 15 coup attempt have stated their intention to include alleged links between the man accused of instigating the uprising and the Vatican in their investigations. Turkish media have reported comments by commission vice president Selcuk Ozdag…
Courtney McGrail
Calls for protection for Middle East Christians
The president of the World Jewish Congress has called for greater action to stem persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Addressing an interfaith forum in New York City, Ronald S. Lauder drew parallels with the Holocaust of World War II and lamented that little appears to have changed in relation to genocidal slaughter. “Today…
Others beyond Trump and Clinton
Dear Editor, Your correspondent Declan Cooney (Letters IC 01/12/2016) took Fr Gerry O’Hanlon to task for bemoaning the election of the Republican candidate as President of the USA. In doing so he repeated the “there was no other alternative [to Hilary Clinton]” argument which has already been trotted out – and refuted – ad nauseum. There…
Study finds direct link between mother’s attention and child’s early development
Staff Reporter A leading psychiatrist has welcomed a new study which establishes an appreciable link between the time spent by a mother with her children and the children’s cognitive and social development. Reacting to news that researchers from the University of Essex and University College London have found that the greater a mother’s attention and…
Surviving family Christmas
John Reid explores the challenges of Christmas as experienced by more and more people
In praise of books at Christmas
Fr Conor McDonough OP In the far-east of Switzerland – la Suisse orientale, as the French speakers in the West charmingly call it – lies a town bearing the name of an Irish saint: St Gallen, a disciple of Ireland’s single greatest contribution to Europe, St Columbanus. The abbey that gave the town its name…
Almost 40% intend to see Pope in Ireland
Nearly 40% of people in the Republic plan to see Pope Francis when he visits Ireland in 2018, a new poll has found. Conducted by Ipsos/MRBI on behalf of The Irish Times newspaper, the poll is the first since the announcement that the Pontiff will travel to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. Overall,…
A question of Constitutional rights
Dear Editor, In 2017 or 2018, we can expect to have a referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (or the rights of the unborn). While there is an opinion that abortion is acceptable in exceptional circumstances, the questions foremost in my mind must be the following: Why is it an indictable offence…
Celebrating the end of an era
St Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny was suitably packed when it hosted on November 20 a concelebrated Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the recent retirement of Bishop Séamus Freeman, S.A.C., who served as Bishop of Ossory for almost nine years. The celebration coincided with the Feast of Christ the King and the conclusion of the Extraordinary…
News in Brief
Opus Dei Prelate Echevarria dies in Rome The Opus Dei community in Ireland is mourning the passing of the congregation’s prelate, Bishop Javier Echevarria, who died in Rome on December 12. According to Paul Harman, spokesperson for the prelature, “the Irish community takes a small measure of comfort from the fact that Bishop Echevarria passed…