Confronting a culture of extremism in Pakistan

Columban missionary Fr Liam O’Callaghan describes an indifference to religious extremism in some sections of Pakistani society, writes Jason Osborne January 30 this year saw another deadly blast in Pakistan, this time at a mosque located inside a high-security compound that includes police headquarters and a counterterrorism department. The attack’s final toll saw 101 dead and hundreds more wounded.…

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Is Christ really present in the Eucharist?

Questions of Faith Recent polls in the US have indicated that belief in Jesus’s presence in the Eucharist is at a historic low. A famous 2019 survey found that 69% of all self-identified Catholics said they believed the bread and wine used at Mass are not Christ, but rather “symbols of the body and blood…

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Accord data reveals strong demand for Catholic marriage this Valentine’s

Accord has released its latest attendance figures for couples undertaking Sacramental marriage preparation courses throughout Ireland. The 2022 figure of 4,610 couples hosted through 297 marriage preparation programmes is equal to 2019’s pre-pandemic figure of 4610 couples hosted at 285 programmes. Speaking at St Valentine’s shrine in the Carmelite church on Whitefriar Street Monday, Director of…

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Do Catholics worship Mary?

A near age-old accusation levelled at the Catholic Church is that it encourages and actively worships Jesus’s mother, Mary. The same accusation is applied when it comes to saints – Catholics are accused of being polytheistic, essentially: of worshipping saints as gods, rather than God alone. The short answer to this is no, Catholics do…

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Ministering to the masses on and off-line

Sr Miriam James Heidland SOLT tells Jason Osborne about her love of sports and reluctant online ministry Well-known in Ireland for her internet appearances and for her books Loved as I Am, Behold, and Restore, US-based Sr Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity tells me with a laugh that…

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