Dear Editor, I read with interest Martin O’Brien’s interview with Mary McAleese in your November 12 edition. He was high in his praise and admiration of her. We all admired her many good qualities, her courage and determination, her intelligence, her eloquence and not least her commitment to build peace between the two communities she had such…
Courtney McGrail
Delighting in every moment of life
The Happiness Habit: A “Little Book” Guide To Your True Self by Fr Daniel O’Leary (Columba Press, €9.99)
Recent books in brief
Bridie Gallagher: The Girl from Donegal by Jim Livingstone, foreword by Daniel O’Donnell (The Collins Press, €19.99) Here is the story of one of Ireland’s greatest stars, written by her son, for many years her manager and musical director. He tells how a young girl from Donegal made her way in what has always been…
A ‘classy’ documentary about Columbanus
While most viewing was ‘fascinating’, Brendan O’Regan was left feeling that “if there was a conspiracy to bash the Church and traditional values things could hardly turn out much differently”
Community volunteers should be appreciated more
An Offaly student shares her experience of completing the Pope John Paul II Gold Award
Open your ears
Listening to someone is a most powerful gift and the gateway to building healthy relationships, writes Marian Byrne
World News in Brief
Mali Church leaders insist friendship with Muslims will continue Relations between Catholics and Muslims in Mali will not be affected by the November 20 attack on Bamako’s Radisson Hotel, according to the secretary-general of Mali’s Catholic bishops’ conference. While conceding that the attack, in which at least 20 people were killed, was part of a wider Islamist campaign, Msgr Edmond Dembele recalled how…
Media monitors urge Vatican to honour press freedom
Media monitors at the 57-country Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have condemned the Vatican’s trial of two journalists and their alleged sources, and have called on the Holy See to honour its commitments to press freedom. “Our main concern is for the protection of confidential sources,” said Gunnar Vrang, spokesman for OSCE’s…
Catholics call for climate action in Paris
More than 1.8 million signatures – including 800,000 collected by Catholic organisations – were on a petition calling for action on climate change submitted by interfaith leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Heads of state gathered in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget for the summit, with leaders of Catholic organisations saying that…
Preaching on Pope’s Laudato Si’
Dear Editor, How many priests in Ireland have preached about the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’? How many bishops have urged the priests in their dioceses to speak about the encyclical? How many parishes have devoted time to reflecting on and acting on Laudato Si’? Just curious. Yours etc., Fr Joe McVeigh, Lisbellaw, Co. Fermanagh.