Even as their numbers continue to decline in most jurisdictions, nuns, as in cloistered contemplatives, and religious sisters in the active congregations, continue to attract, bemuse, fascinate, confound and even repel observers from both within and outside the Catholic orbit. Various documentaries on the ‘religious’ calling of women by the BBC and other networks, the…
Vatican Roundup Pastors who preach one thing and do another are wounded and harm the Church, Pope Francis said. Like the scribes and Pharisees of old, pastors end up leading a double life when they detach themselves from God and his people, the Pope said during morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. “Jesus…
In Short Five college students from the Diocese of Meath have commended a leadership summit in Chicago saying it was “a really positive experience” after joining over 8,000 people at the event. The Student Leadership Summit was organised by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). FOCUS is an outreach that helps college and…
In Short An Australian native pronounced his first solemn vows as a Benedictine monk in Meath, and was reminded during the homily why he left his native home to become a monk. Dom Mark Kirby OSM, Conventual Prior, asked Bro. Cassian Maria Aylward: “Why did you leave your father and your mother, and your…
Vatican Roundup Pope Francis has said the silence that precedes the opening prayer at Mass is an opportunity for Christians to commend to God the fate of the Church and the world. Departing from his prepared text at his weekly General Audience, the Pope urged priests “to observe this brief silence and not hurry”.…
Letter from Rome Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, gave a talk at Notre Dame’s Global Gateway facility in Rome addressed to ecumenical and inter-faith experts, which laid out the Church’s post-Vatican II approach to ecumenism and the new directions the press to bring Christians together is getting…
Vatican Roundup The difficulties accepting Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia are probably connected to accepting the new attitude and approach to providing pastoral care according to the Vatican Secretary of State. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the Pope’s exhortation on the family “flowed from a new paradigm that Pope Francis is pursuing with wisdom, with…
Irish people should watch out for migrants being exploited in our communities, and should guard against being “insular”. Responding to Pope Francis’ World Message of Peace and his address to diplomats connected with the Vatican this week, Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns said Irish people know too well the realities of migrating for a better…
Saoirse Ronan’s Golden Globe triumph is for a film about “a strange and surprising breakthrough of grace”, according to a prominent Los Angeles-based bishop. The 23-year-old Irish actress won her first Golden Globe award on Sunday for her performance as the title character Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson in the film Lady Bird. She had previously…
Sign of peace up to bishops Removing the sign of peace due to flu outbreak will not be rolled out across Ireland’s dioceses. “There is not a collective position on this – it is a matter for each individual diocese,” Martin Long, spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference, told The Irish Catholic. The HSE has…
John L. Allen Jr.
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Susan Gately