The extraction by the United States of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, provided an early interruption into the dreams of a calmer, predictable 2026. Maduro is widely seen as being an illegitimate president, grimly holding onto power after a fraudulent election in 2024. He is considered corrupt – the US accuses…
When it comes to sport, all I really know is what seeps into my brain against my will – or what I’ve gleaned from entertaining Hollywood films! But a New Year spat over a sports headline caught my eye. It involved a retired Tyrone football star, Conor Meyler, and an Irish News columnist, Kenny Archer. The…
Welcome occasional Massgoers with open arms The world and its mother came to Mass on Christmas Eve. Rarely was such a crowd seen, not only in the local church but in neighbouring parishes too. It seems Christmas Eve is now what ‘a good Sunday’ once was. And, unusually now, the church was full of children…
In a previous article, we explored how AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are not really intelligent. We know this because they are wholly material and depend upon human programming, whereas human intellects have an immaterial aspect to them, which enables them not only to grasp concepts and learn, but to make free decisions. Therefore, though…
Since 2012, I have been part of a gathering on Christmas Eve. It is a short and simple gathering at the empty Crib. The intention is to invite younger families to take a little time out from what can be a busy day of last-minute preparations. The hope is that this little bit of time…
A sneaky marketing tactic has crept in during the last decade or so. Traditionally, there were 12 days of Christmas beginning on Christmas Day and ending on either the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany or the Epiphany itself. The Church counts a little differently, celebrating the Octave of Christmas, which ends on the…
The name of my house is “Living Hope”; these words, on a sign by the front door, light up at night, a great reminder of St Peter’s message in his first letter: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth…
Predictions, they say, are difficult to make, especially the ones about the future! But we need neither a crystal ball nor the gift of prophecy to know that 2026 is going to be another immensely challenging, if rewarding, year for everyone engaged in the leadership and management of Catholic primary and post-primary schools. At primary…
Predictions are always a risky enterprise, since nothing is certain in this life – “we live in no abiding city,” as the Gospel puts it. Yet the world we are entering in 2026 has already been ascertained, in one predominant aspect: Europe is an ageing society. The EU is already the oldest society in the…
The Iter Europaeum is a pilgrimage of 28 churches in Rome, celebrating the link between the Holy See and the European Union. It was one of four official pilgrimage paths in the city for the jubilee year. Each of the 28 churches is, for historical or cultural reasons, associated with one of the member states…
Martina Purdy
Breda O'Brien
Mary Kenny