Editor’s note Three weeks ago we featured this interview with Fr John Murray by columnist Martina Purdy and want to share it again. Fr Murray is recovering after a brutal attack as he heard confession in Downpatrick. Fr Murray had just retired from his role as PP, was recovering from illness and was preparing to…
For more than two decades, a prominent sister-led coalition has raised awareness at the United Nations on a host of pressing global issues – most recently on homelessness – and made its mark on deliberations at the world body. But now the coalition will end its ministry by the end of the year. UNANIMA International is a…
There was a time, not long ago, when elite sport demanded sacrifice with little regard for the soul behind the jersey. No nutritionist to flag sudden weight loss. No psychologist to question a dip in confidence. No manager asking how your life outside the white lines was going. Tony Óg Regan remembers those years well.…
A thousand kilometres from the town of Dundalk lies the final resting place of a remarkable young Irish priest who gave his life in the service of others during the Second World War. Buried in the churchyard of the Église Saint-Martin in the village of Ussy, Normandy, his grave is marked by a simple headstone:…
The new text is not ideologically motivated, but rather reflects natural developments in modern English usage, Chai Brady hears A new edition of the lectionary — the book from which Scripture is read at Mass — is close to the final draft for the Church in Ireland, marking the most significant liturgical Scripture revision in…
Popes Francis and Leo have come from a similar missionary and pastoral experience, so to overlook the influence the Latin American Church had on them would be a mistake as both were formed through the active participation of its peoples. Their experiences of Church recognise the mission of all the baptised, ‘Pobal De’ (People of…
Each summer, newspapers like to suggest books people can read during your holiday time, so I am going to come up with a suggestion that you might think is daunting at first, and that is to pick up and read something by Leo Tolstoy, rated by many as possibly the greatest writer of all time.…
As we are all now in the implementation phase of the Synodal Pathway gathering as the People of God is going to become more important. This is why in the implementation phase there is a definite focus and call for dioceses to have assemblies. The word assembly in itself is something we are not that…
When the atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki, it also destroyed the spiritual heart of Japanese Catholics: Urakami, the centre of faith of the once persecuted Christians, was wiped out in seconds. On 9 August 1945, the second American atomic bomb, codenamed “Fat Man”, exploded over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Around 75,000 people died immediately…
Women often sought entry to the Regina Coeli hostel because of domestic violence, homelessness or drug addiction, Chai Brady writes Despite advice from taxpayer-funded investigations, the Government has continued to call for more than €26m from the Legion of Mary to pay into the Mother and Baby Homes redress scheme. When the final report of the…
Martina Purdy
Chai Brady
David Quinn