Diarmuid Lyng has always been more than a hurler. The former Wexford captain known for his pace and skill in the yellow and gold, has long traded the pitch for the sacred landscape of Ireland’s hills and heritage. These days, he’s more likely to be found deep in the wilds, guiding young people through Irish…
Category: Feature
The papal pride: Every Leo who sat in Peter’s Chair
St Leo I (Leo the Great) Papacy: 440–461 Canonised Saint | Doctor of the Church The first pope to bear the title “the Great”, Leo I was a theological giant and a steady leader in times of crisis. He fiercely defended orthodox Christology during the Council of Chalcedon, helped define the doctrine of Christ’s two…
Leo XIV: the conclave opens and relaunches in America
Dr Massimo Faggioli The 2025 conclave, which was quickly resolved on the second day, elected an American Augustinian to the papacy, Robert Francis Prevost, who chose Leo XIV as his name. In the days preceding the conclave, two other Americans had been seen in the Vatican, with different relationships with the Church, but both interested…
Parliament is not the pub
I was thinking about how I’d start this article when my mind turned to the Camogie ‘skorts vs shorts’ debate. I have been marvelling mentally at the capacity of so many politicians to get worked up about such a trivial matter. And then a text to my phone from Gena Heraty in Haiti. Gena, from Westport, has spent most…
Why he chose the name ‘Leo XIV’
It is extremely early, impossible in fact, to make any real predictions about the direction in which our new pope, Leo XIV, will lead the Church, but we are all allowed to say what our first impressions are, and mine are that he seems like a calm, gentle, intelligent and deeply prayerful man. This last…
We can have confidence in the leadership of Pope Leo
Fr Eamonn Conway Pope Leo intends, albeit in his own way and according to his own style, to press forward with the same priorities that Pope Francis held. Pope Leo has called for a renewal of everyone’s commitment to Vatican II and in his first homily to the cardinals who elected him has described as…
All hands to the plough in Ardfinnan and sister parishes
Ann Marie Foley Ardfinnan has seen nothing but change in recent years. Yet in the rural parish somehow everything continues – sacraments from birth to death, celebrations of birthdays, weddings, and prayer – most recently in front of the Carlos Acutis shrine. The combined parishes of Ardfinnan, Ballybacon, Grange, Newcastle, Fourmilewater, Touraneena and The Nire,…
Synod Secretariat writes publicly to Pope Leo XIV
What will happen to the World Synod project under the new Pope? How will it continue in practical terms and in terms of content? In an unusual letter, the Synod Secretariat outlines its hopes and wishes to Leo XIV. The Secretariat responsible for the World Synod in Rome hopes that Pope Leo XIV will lead…
Catholic reform dialogue sees tailwind from new Pope
Catholic bishops and lay people from all over Germany are once again discussing reform projects at the Synodal Committee. They are hoping for a tailwind for the reform project from the recently elected new Pope Leo XIV. The leaders of the reform dialogue on the future of the Catholic Church in Germany see the new…
Leo XIV is the first Augustinian on the Chair of Peter. Order rich in tradition with more than 750 years of history.
Martin Luther, Gregor Mendel and Abraham a Sancta Clara also came from the order founded by the new pope in 1256. Pope Leo XIV is the first pope to come from the Augustinian order, a Catholic order rich in tradition with a history of more than 750 years. The Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini (OSA) goes…