The Church in Ireland should pause its national synod until the conclusion of the global process, the Secretary General of the Vatican Synod has suggested. Cardinal Mario Grech recommended that Ireland “proceed at a slower pace” while the global discernment process is ongoing. The Church in Ireland should “wait for the conclusion of the universal…
The North’s Under Secretary of State has praised how Catholic schools promote reconciliation and integration, ahead of the Good Friday Agreement’s anniversary. Lord Caine joined the DUP’s Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and members of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) in a visit to St Patrick’s Academy, Lisburn, to mark Catholic Schools’ Week. After the…
You might think, reading this column over the last few months, that religion is a common subject in movies. However, it isn’t very frequently, at least as a positive subject. There are plenty of films that attack it or misunderstand it; in the past there were films that made it into a kind of spectacle,…
European bishops met with the European Commission (EC) to share their perspectives on the impacts of war in Ukraine, emphasising the positive role played by Churches. Churches are “frontline operational field actors” in providing humanitarian care to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, Archbishop Cyril Vasil told the EC. The archbishop of the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Kosice,…
Brigidine Sr Rita Minehan CSB hopes that people will see “the beauty of faith” as the first ever bank holiday for St Brigid’s day takes place on February 6. The Irish saint’s “beautiful witness” of care for the poor speaks loudly to today, believes Sr Minehan, chairperson of Solas Bhríde Christian spirituality centre. “She was…
Schools’ bodies in the North have shared “significant concerns” about the impact of the “crisis” in education funding, warning of negative impacts for many generations to come. There is a need for an “urgent meeting involving everyone with a concern for the future of our children and young people,” say the schools’ bodies in a…
I’ve already looked at several films from the Vatican’s list of 45 significant films. This week, I will add Monsieur Vincent. The 1947 French film is a picaresque account of the life of St Vincent de Paul, founder of the Daughters of Charity. As Catholic film critic Deacon Steven Greydanus puts it, there are many…
Churches can help develop an agreed truth recovery process to address the “legacy of pain” of the troubles, Archbishop Eamon Martin has said. The Primate of All-Ireland made the suggestion during an ecumenical service in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, held on Sunday January 22. Peace, reconciliation and forgiveness on the island of Ireland “can only…
At a time when many orders in Ireland are contracting as the vocation crisis bites, the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal opened a new mission house in Drogheda on Saturday. A Mass and blessing of the mission house took place on January 21 and two young Irish women are ready to take up residence in…
One of the great products of the Second Vatican Council has been a renewed understanding of the common priesthood of the baptised. We are all called to exercise our baptismal priesthood through participation, “each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king”, the Catechism tells us. By virtue of this…
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