Cathal Barry meets an actress firm in her faith Singer, songwriter, actress, DJ. It seems there is very little Rebecca Ryan can’t master once she puts her hand to it. Readers of The Irish Catholic may recognise her from illustrious roles in Fair City and The Tudors. Others from tuning into Spirit Radio’s breakfast programme…

Northern Protestants are embracing the debt they owe to Patrick, writes Greg Daly There were no shortage of eyebrows raised this January when Belfast councillor Ruth Patterson told the BBC’s William Crawley that St Patrick was “a former Protestant”. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback show, Ms Patterson, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party…

Many pilgrims to Fatima may be unaware of the prelude to the apparitions of Our Lady, writes Lauri Duffy Lauri Duffy The centenary of the apparitions of an angel to the three children of Fatima in 1916 will be celebrated in ceremonies in Fatima on Monday, March 21. When people think of Fatima, it is…

Martin O’Brien discovers that Pope Francis has taken evangelisation to a new level Edward Sri, husband of Elizabeth, father of seven (another child is on the way) teacher, theologian, bestselling author and EWTN broadcaster is one of the most accomplished communicators of the Catholic faith in the world today. Articulate and compelling he is one…

The real Patrick is a far more compelling figure than the caricature of snakes and shamrocks, writes Salvador Ryan Salvador Ryan Each year as we mark the feast of St Patrick, Ireland’s national patron saint, I cannot help but bemoan the figure of fun and merriment that this “apostle to the Irish” has become. It…

This weekend marks the third anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. I was in Rome that cold March evening when it was announced that the cardinal-electors had chosen the 77-year-old Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio. He was the first Jesuit Pope and the first Pope from Latin America. His evident humility endeared him…

For Pope Francis, the Year of Mercy is all about sharing the experience of God’s mercy with others. But first, he wants people to experience it themselves, in the confessional. Lent is the perfect time for that kind of spring cleaning and at the Vatican, in Rome and in many dioceses around the world, Catholic…

Greg Daly learns about four centuries of Capuchins in Ireland In early 17th-Century Germany, the Shankill-born Fr Nicholas Archibold was crossing a river in Paderborn when he heard a “demonic voice” tell him that he was “a big man with a little nose”. This annoyed him, according to Dr John McCafferty, director of UCD’s Mícheál…

Mags Gargan speaks to an Irish Sister of Mercy working among the voices and memories of Auschwitz The Irish missionary spirit has an incredible scope of outreach, so it should really be of no surprise to learn that a Sister of Mercy from Dublin works and lives at the edge of the Nazi concentration camps…

This year’s ‘Good Pagan’ movie aims to unite believers and non-believers, writes Greg Daly “Nobody knows anything,” proclaims legendary Hollywood screenwriter Bill Goldman time and again in his 1983 classic Adventures in the Screen Trade. “Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s…