I have had my fair share of ‘pinch me moments’ over the past few years. Whether it was making The Letter Film with Pope Francis or premiering the film with President Higgins in Aras an Uachtaráin – these have been amazing moments. Two weeks ago, however, I experienced a moment which topped them all. It…
It was a surreal sight: Pope Leo and Arnold Schwarzenegger sharing the same stage. The serene successor of St Peter beside the muscled action hero from The Terminator movies — an unlikely duo, yet together they opened the Raising Hope conference at Castel Gandolfo with strength and conviction. The conference was organised by the Laudato…
My mum works in the Laudato Si’ Movement and asked me if I would like to interview Arnold Schwarzenegger as TY work experience. I came up with questions, and my mum sent them off to Arnold’s team. Out of the many requests he received, I was lucky he chose my questions. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in…
Change is the defining constant of the human story. To live is to accept that nothing stays the same. From one decade to the next, the world transforms industrially, technologically, and socially — always evolving into something new. Ireland, too, has changed. Not long ago, the Catholic Church stood unchallenged; to question it was to…
We can never say it’s enough,” stated Bl. Catherine McAuley on page two of her Familiar Instructions. For the past nearly two centuries, the Mercy Order has been responding to the needs of the vulnerable, the sick and the poor. Everything started with the leadership of a determined woman. On a visit to the Mercy…
Readers of this newspaper will be familiar with the preparations for a National Pre-Synodal Assembly to be held in Kilkenny on Saturday, October 18. They will have perhaps perused some of the content of the preparatory document, ‘Baptised and Sent’, carried in this newspaper, and also the encouraging and helpful critique by Fr Gerry O’Hanlon…
This month we celebrate the feast day of St Therese of Lisieux. She emphasised paying big attention to the small things. A series of small experiences over the past ten days has given me pause for thought ahead of the Pre-Synodal Assembly taking place in Kilkenny on the October 18. On a special night last…
Egypt has waged bitter wars against Israel and suffered devastating defeats. In 1978, Cairo dared to take the path to peace. Today, the Arab country is indispensable as a mediator in the Middle East conflict. “No war against Israel without Egypt, no peace without Syria” – for a long time this was the geostrategic rule…
It was a breathless night in Tel Aviv: Hundreds gathered in the evening to eagerly await the release of the hostages. After hours of waiting, a first sigh of relief – the first ones are free! The clock is ticking. Shortly after midnight, the digital red digits on the square in front of the museum…
Dr Robert McNamara, lecturer in philosophy and head of department at St Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth, first encountered St Edith Stein’s book On the Problem of Empathy while passing it daily on a library shelf. “There was an alluring character to her presence,” he remembers. “I tried to read it but found it impossible…
Renata Steffens