Personal Profile Fr Maurice Colgan reflects God’s light into the world through his vocation as a Dominican, and through his work with the Alive! newspaper, although, as is so often the way, he didn’t see his life’s path taking this shape. “I had no serious inclination towards the priesthood so my future as I saw…
Whether of pagan or Catholic origins, Hallowe’en is more than a commercial holiday writes Ruadhán Jones An infrequent and unofficial “battle”’ takes place between Christians, Neo Pagans and sometimes New Atheists. It comes to the fore every time we have a major feast in the Church. Easter and Christmas, it is erroneously claimed, originated in…
Personal Profile With Ireland having entered a second period of full restriction, making an effort to communicate is more important than ever, and Fr Eamonn McCarthy finds himself at the forefront of those efforts through his work with Radio Maria. The Dublin-based priest is well-known on Irish airwaves, helming Radio Maria’s mission in Ireland with…
Ruadhán Jones shares ideas for celebrating the unofficial triduum of Hallowe’en, All Saints and All Souls Hallowe’en as it is celebrated today comprises a mishmash of different cultural traditions, some pagan – mostly Celtic – and some Christian. Even the origins of the celebration are somewhat controversial, with Neo-paganists attempting to ‘reclaim’ it from its…
Personal Profile Canon Patrick Marron’s ministry spans both time and experience, childhood and adulthood, lay and religious, carefree life and stressful life. However, given his time back, he says he would do it all over again. “I love my ministry. I found it very challenging, and I regretted that I wasn’t a better priest. I’ve…
What you need to know about the recently launched healthy eating guidelines for toddlers, writes Ruadhán Jones At the start of October, the Government launched their first-ever healthy eating guidelines for one to four-year olds. The Health Department told us, the guidelines were “developed by nutrition experts in Ireland, the guidelines are based on Irish…
Personal Profile Journeying through the ups and downs of her life so far, Emma Maloney has achieved the rare sense that she’s exactly where she’s supposed to be. Working for the Catholic charity Youth 2000 and supplied abundant love by her family and tight circle of friends, it’s been a road beset with the uncertainties…
Diagnoses of mouth and neck cancer to increase 30% in 25 years, writes Ruadhán Jones Here’s something that may have slipped by you – September 16 was Mouth Cancer Awareness day. I don’t think you would be alone, of course, and a possible explanation for this is that mouth and neck cancers are not as…
Personal Profile New Pastoral Manager at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) Chaplaincy, Shannon Campbell is rooted in both Catholicism and ecumenism. Having attended QUB to study post-primary education and having been actively involved in the chaplaincy’s pastoral team during her years there, time has shown Shannon its circular face. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, she attributed…
Expert children’s bookseller and debut author, Lorraine Levis releases a manual for parents and educators to help children develop a love of reading Of everything in this book, the opinion I express here could be one of the most controversial … I think children should play more video games. I hope you will stick with…
Ruadhán Jones