Secrecy around major changes in the Vatican’s safeguarding body counterproductive, Marie Collins tells Ruadhán Jones Claims that the Vatican’s chief safeguarding body is experiencing “growing pains” as it develops a new methodology have been knocked down by a former member and survivor of clerical abuse. No one knows what the Commission for the Protection of…
1916 revolutionaries rooted in ‘higher cause’
The actions of Ireland’s 1916 revolutionaries were rooted in a “higher cause”, Bishop Niall Coll said during Mass for the Annual State Commemorative Ceremonies for the 1916 Easter Rising. Their cause required “the selfless sacrifice of their own lives in the cause of Irish freedom”, the bishop of Ossory said in Arbour Hill, Dublin, on…
Thousands attend Dublin diocese’s Knock pilgrimage
Mary is the model for walking with Jesus, Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell told the more than 2,000 people from his diocese who made the pilgrimage to Knock on April 29. Over 2,000 people from across the diocese attended the pilgrimage and travelled to the shrine on various forms of transport including 26 buses. Before…
‘Irish missionaries gave us Christ deep in our souls’
The legacy of Irish missionaries are women of substance and faith, Ruadhán Jones hears Friday morning, April 28, was one of those rare experiences of unadulterated happiness for the Church in Ireland. In a spirit of festivity and love, the works of Irish missionaries were praised in song by some of the women they had…
Evangelised African women can ‘change the tide’ for faith in Ireland
African women evangelised and educated by Irish missionaries can “change the tide” for faith in Ireland, says an Irish missionary who dedicated her life to educating women in Cameroon. Sr Mary Neville (89) of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, who worked as a missionary in Nigeria and Cameroon for almost 50 years, said…
Freedom of conscience protections mustn’t be eroded after abortion review, says Irish doctor
Freedom of conscience protections need to be strengthened, not further eroded, an Irish doctor has claimed, after a review into Ireland’s abortion law attacked conscientious objection. “Freedom of conscience is the defining civil rights issue of our day,” Dr Kirsten Fuller, a GP based in Tipperary, told the March for Life on May 1. Her…
Pope encourages Derry Catholics to be peacemakers in the North
Pope Francis encouraged Derry Catholics to be peacemakers for the sake of the North’s present and future, as the diocese celebrates the 150th anniversary of St Eugene’s Cathedral. The Pope said its his hope that the diocesan family will be “ever radiant with the beatitudes”, in a message read out by Ireland’s new papal nuncio…
‘Either-or’ mentality in vocations fatal says Archbishop Farrell
A mentality of seeking “either priests or laity” is a fatal logic for the life of the Church, Archbishop Dermot Farrell warned on Vocations Sunday, April 30. Reflecting that most reflection on the scarcity of vocations has been “either-or”, the archbishop of Dublin said Christ’s way is “both-and”. “We pray for servants of the Gospel…
Concern Debates finalists go head to head
Two school debating teams go head-to-head this week in the All-Ireland final of Concern Debates, after over 175 school teams participated this year. Students from Largy College, Monaghan and The High School, Dublin, will contest the final, chaired by RTÉ presenter and sustainability expert Fionnuala Moran. Largy college will oppose the motion, ‘For the Global…
A great director searches for mercy in despair
The Vatican film list from 1995 contains two films that Pope Francis declares to be his favourites. The first I’ve reviewed, Babette’s Feast; the second is an Italian film famed Italian director, Federico Fellini, his 1954 Oscar winner La Strada. ‘Fellini-esque’ is an important descriptor in film criticism these days. It denotes something whimsical, comic…