Faith in Film When A Hidden Life came out in 2019 from maverick American filmmaker Terrence Malick, it was greeted with almost unquestioning adulation. The film promised to tell the story of Blessed Franz Jagerstätter, an Austrian who was executed by the Nazis for refusing conscription. The Austrian farmer is a martyr of the Church,…
Questions of Faith When Christians petition God for things they want, atheists and sometimes fellow Christian’s bristle. Isn’t that treating God like a fairy godparent or a gumball machine – you make your wish or put your prayers in and out comes what you want? This is a good question, given that the Catholic tradition…
Saint of the Week A week on from the feast of one of Ireland’s three patron saints – St Patrick – we have the feast day of one of his heirs, St Macartan. The first bishop of Clogher diocese, he became known as St Patrick’s “Threin Fhir”, or “Strong Man”, both for his dedication to…
When Pope Francis came to celebrate Mass in the Phoenix park, myself and my family were among the thousands who braved the elements to see him. I remember the Pope’s visit as being quite contentious. I was in college at the time and some of my classmates were sharing posts on social media threatening to…
The cancelling of columnist with The Irish Catholic Mary Kenny by the University of Limerick (UL) has been dubbed “a disaster” by a local councillor. UL’s move is part of a “very worrying” proliferation of cancelling in universities across the western world, Independent Cllr Emmett O’Brien told The Irish Catholic. The veteran journalist and co-founder…
The new curriculum framework for primary schools announced last week reconfirms the importance of religion and spirituality, a body representing Catholic schools has said. The curriculum, launched last week by Minister for Education Norma Foley, will come into play in 2026. The Irish bishops’ conference and the Catholic Education Partnership have both welcomed the updated…
Rome, Open City (1945) is a film famous for a variety of reasons. It is credited with starting a whole new film movement called Italian Neo-realism; filmed in the streets of Rome at the end of WWII, it is also a rare historical document. What will likely cement its exalted position in film history long-term,…
The pastoral style of Pope Francis’ has laid down the challenge for Ireland to go the peripheries, Bishop Paul Dempsey has said. Pope Francis celebrated the tenth anniversary of his election to papacy on Monday, March 13. The bishop of Achonry told The Irish Catholic that the Pope has “very profoundly reached out to the…
All 26 Irish dioceses have now been awarded or are in the process of finalising Covid-19 insurance claims arising out of a loss of vital weekly donations when parishes were ordered to shut by the Government during the pandemic. The Irish Catholic understands that a number of dioceses, including Ferns, Cork and Ross and Cloyne…
A pro-life volunteer has been arrested for the second time for the “offence” of silently praying in her head within an abortion facility censorship or “buffer” zone. It is the third such arrest in the UK since the law was introduced in February of this year. Bail conditions have been imposed on Ms Isabel Vaughan-Spruce…