Staff Reporter It may have been a coincidence or a moment of singular grace, but few could fail to remark on the significance that Portugal’s win in the Eurovision Song Contest at the weekend – the first in that country’s 49 attempts – came on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. As Salvador Sobral…
Mark Patrick Hederman’s latest book, in which he explores the search for a new ethics for Ireland, has entered the bestsellers list just weeks after publication. The Opal and the Pearl examines sexuality in the lives and writings of James Joyce, Iris Murdoch and W.B. Yeats. Published by Columba Press, the book by the former…
Staff Reporter A young rugby player has revealed the strength he receives from his faith, speaking at a Mass to celebrate sport in his parish in Co. Sligo. Connacht prop and Irish under-20 squad member, Conan O’Donnell, told St Patrick’s in Strandhill that “God is important in my life”. “My faith was nurtured by regular…
The commission investigating alleged visions of Our Lady at Medjugorje has reportedly recommended early apparitions be accepted as authentic, but casts doubt upon later claims of visions. According to reports in the Italian media this week, the overwhelming majority of the 15-member body voted in favour of recognising the supernatural nature of the first seven…
The picture above of children foraging for food among waste best sums up the situation in South Sudan, says Fr John Skinnader CSSp, a Spiritan priest from Co. Monaghan who has been based in the country since 2012. “The three tall buildings, just visible at the back, are the only ones standing after the fighting…
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said it is confident that polls showing support for abortion would change rapidly in the event of any referendum “as people start to reflect on what the changes would mean in practice and how it would open the door to abortion on wide-ranging circumstances”. A survey by Behaviour &…
The beatification of Dubliner Fr John Sullivan SJ, a convert from Anglicanism, has been hailed as a sign of reconciliation in Ireland. The first ever beatification in Ireland was held in the Jesuit Church on Gardiner Street on Saturday with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as chief celebrant.…
President Michael D. Higgins is expected to meet with Pope Francis during a visit to Rome next week. The visit, which is set to take place in the Vatican’s Papal Library, will be the first private meeting between the two heads of state. President Higgins previously met the Pontiff at the papal inauguration ceremony in…
There is a great need for “prayer and penance” to plead for the end of the many wars spreading all over the world and the many “absurd conflicts” that “disfigure the face of humanity”, Pope Francis has said. Referring to the canonisation of Ss Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto in Fatima, he said that the…
Pop superstar Rita Ora has revealed that one of her proudest moments was performing at the Vatican last year, at a ceremony to mark the canonisation of Mother Teresa, a fellow native of Kosovo. “Oh, it was beautiful,” she said. “To hear my voice in that room – incredible reverb, by the way – was…
Courtney McGrail
Mags Gargan