When Bishop Brendan Leahy’s recent letter to the people of Limerick was read at Masses earlier this month, its tone carried a rare and unmistakable urgency. “Many of the features of parish life in our Diocese and in Ireland that so many of us grew up with and have become so familiar with, are of…
I have sometimes been asked by people in Britain: why are the Irish the most passionately pro-Palestinian of any nation? Why has Gaza been so central, even obsessive, to Irish politics, discourse and public demonstration? Gaza has taken more time in the Oireachtas than any other issue touching overseas policy. It has been a central…
Northern Ireland can no longer be viewed as consisting of two groups, religiously speaking, namely the Catholic and the Protestants. What must also be added into the mix are the non-religious, who are growing in number. This is one of the main findings of a major new poll on attitudes to religion in the North.…
The morning sun beats down on the city of Wau, South Sudan. In a modest classroom with yellow concrete walls at the Catholic Health Sciences Institute (CHSI), rows of smiling nursing students await the day’s lesson. They are studying anatomy and midwifery, gaining the skills to serve their country, where maternal mortality rates remain among…
I met Sr Miriam Duggan at the Divine Mercy Conference last February. Subsequently, I invited her to share something of her missionary story in Uganda and Kenya. She readily agreed and we were in touch regularly until the first of the articles was published in Missio Ireland’s summer newsletter, which was dispatched to our donors…
Memoirs of Fr. Dominic Pendanathu SDB, an Indian Salesian Missionary now working in Milford Salesian community Limerick Ireland Go, make disciples of all nations”, (Matthew 28:19) is the great call of Jesus that led the Salesian Congregation to India, where their mission began in 1906 with Fr. George Tomatis SDB and his companions. By 1922,…
Friendship and inclusion: the keys to unlocking closed doors Dear Editor, As a priest who worked in England for over 50 years, I have returned home in retirement, and am wrestling to fully understand what is happening in the Church of my homeland. There are shattering changes across the religious dimensions of Catholicism nationwide, and…
Two years ago, we watched with horror what had happened to innocent Israeli citizens as they enjoyed a music festival. Since then, we have witnessed the daily news from Gaza and shook our heads in disbelief: bombed hospitals, broken homes, frightened children. Now, at last, there are signs of hope — the announcement of a…
Following the official announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, Trócaire partner Caritas Jerusalem was among the first humanitarian organisations to respond, acting swiftly to meet the urgent needs of families and children across the Strip. Within days of the ceasefire, Caritas Jerusalem mobilised its medical teams in Gaza to deliver 10,000 cans of infant formula to families with newborns and young children…
Maria Steen on how party control and arrogance have turned politics into a closed circle It is two weeks since I exited the presidential race, having received 18 of the 20 nominations required. In that short time, a lot has happened: what could have been a full line up of candidates – as in 2011…
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Maria Steen