Personal Profile “What keeps me going is just a strong faith and belief that this is what Christianity is about,” says Sally Roddy, long-time member and current President of Viatores Christi (VC). She has spent years working on staff and volunteering with VC, the lay missionary group who this year are celebrating their 60th.…
RóiseMcGagh writes about just how important reading is, and how you can encourage your kids to pick up a book Can you recall the smell of that perfectly flat, untouched paper, the cracking of a stiff spine, and the feeling of excitement after reading the blurb of a new book you have been dying…
Personal Profile Fr Gerry and his dog Missy called to Therese O’Donoghue, the Parish Secretary in Booterstown one afternoon in July 2019. “I thought that I knew everything that goes on in the parish,” says Thérèse before that moment. He was holding an official looking envelope and informed her she was to be awarded…
What is socially responsible or ethical investing? Róise McGagh writes how the ordinary person can drive change The environment has been a topic that has really been heating up over the last couple of years. Protecting the planet is a value that many hold dear, including Pope Francis. LaudatoSí’ outlines the importance of the…
Personal Profile Sr Marie Cox holds music close to her heart. It brought her to where she is today and has connected her to people all over the world since she joined the Mercy Sisters in January 1979. Hailing from a small village called Arney in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, Marie was introduced to…
RóiseMcGagh looks at what stress really is and the impact it can have on your body and mind. “I am so stressed.” A statement you might flippantly repeat to yourself on the daily or consistently remind friends and family of. But what does it really mean to be stressed, and what kind of effect…
Personal Profile “There is great joy and fulfilment in being interested in and touching the lives of other people in some small way, however small. ‘It is in giving that we receive’,” says Anita McTernan, a volunteer nurse in a Sisters of Mercy, Mission Hospital in Mutomo, Kenya. Anita is not a Sister of…
Everyday Philosophy I’ve been thinking a lot about art lately. I’ve been catching up on the excellent Risking Enchantment podcast, which discusses beauty in art and culture and its place in the Catholic faith. And I recently had the privilege of hearing the art historian Elizabeth Lev talk about Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel paintings. I…
Leah Darrow, once an America’s Next Top Model contestant (2004), looks beyond physical beauty in an extract from her new book. My decision to audition for America’s Next Top Model wasn’t exactly well thought out. In fact, I had only watched a few minutes of the previous cycle before I decided to audition in St…
Birney has always loved painting. Since she was young, she recalls feeling excited in the art section of a shop and asking for paints for Christmas. “Every Christmas my Santa letters would have been paints and brushes and art stuff,” she tells The Irish Catholic. Just recently Brigid’s work was beamed up onto the front…
Ben Conroy