The Notebook I sat with a bereaved women in her kitchen and asked her how she was getting on. “Not too bad”, she replied, “I learned a lot over the days of the funeral. Now I know about the ‘funeral machine’ and how effective it is.” I was bemused and wondered was this some…
The first time I visited Jerusalem, I was an impressionable 21-year-old. I fell in love with the place. Everything about the city was intoxicating to me: the sites, the smells, the sounds, the food, the religious diversity cheek by jowl…I was captivated on my first visit and it was to be the beginning of a…
Every day, since April 15, the French media – as well as philosophers and commentators – have been reflecting on the question of how the inferno at Notre Dame is a reminder of how precious the cathedral is, and how it links France today with France’s past and its Catholic culture. Every king of France…
The View Easter for me is a time of great mystery. This Easter Week I find myself reflecting on all that we experienced doing those brief three days. Now we celebrate the Resurrection, but, for all of us, as we carry on through life’s journey, the carrying of the cross continues and will continue,…
The latest Tuam interim report invites a host of questions, writes David Quinn The latest interim report by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was issued last week. This new report is concerned mainly with finding out what happened to the dead infants and children in the various institutions under investigation.…
Letter from Rome Elise Harris For pilgrims flocking to Rome’s famed Scala Santa last week as they commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion and death and ultimately his Resurrection, the opportunity to climb the famed relic on bare marble for the first time in 300 years is something many said has brought them closer to God. Giuliana Saginario said:…
Claire Giangravè Even as Holy Week unfolded, historians and experts in monument restoration weighed in on the implications and repercussions of the blaze that nearly destroyed the iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on last week. Regardless of the time, money and resources needed to bring the church back to its splendour, they all shared…
Where should we be casting our eyes? Upward, downward, or just on the road that we’re walking? Well there are different kinds of spiritualities: Spiritualities of the Ascent, Spiritualities of the Descent, and Spiritualities of Maintenance, and each is important. Spiritualities of the Ascent are spiritualities that invite us to strive always for what’s higher,…
At many parishes across the world, Massgoers enthusiastically sang “Easter glory fills the sky” on Sunday morning. It was dark plumes of smoke that filled the skies above churches in Sri Lanka as parishioners gathered for the most important festival in the Christian calendar. Occasions like Easter Sunday and Christmas Day are usually occasions of…
Dear Editor, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s reminder that the Society of St Vincent de Paul should not neglect its identity is a vitally important one and something more of our charities would do well to heed. Pope Francis, after all, in his very first Mass as Pope cautioned us against becoming simply a “compassionate NGO”. It’s…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser