Proposal to expand nature reserves to 30% globally Expanding nature reserves to cover at least 30% of the planet by 2030 is the flagship proposal of high-stakes talks to rescue Earth’s animals and plants from human destruction. But experts agree that a new target is the easy part and will be ineffective without funding and…
A parent’s perspective I was reading a Facebook post recently about a woman who wanted to scale back on her working hours due to chronic illness. She was hoping for some sort of flexibility and understanding of her position having been an exemplary employee in the past. Her boss was not too eager to facilitate…
On Passion Sunday each year we have what people refer to as the long Gospel, properly called The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This year we have St Luke’s version. The four evangelists basically write about the same event but each one has his own particular interests as well as his immediate readership in view. There…
Personal Profile Recently appointed pastoral manager in Raphoe diocese Connor Duncan grew up in a Catholic family. While he left the Faith “in a big way” for a time, the embers never fully died. Now, he hopes to enkindle the flame of faith in people today. Born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Connor grew up in…
According to the Bible, there’s a secret that’s hidden from the amoral, known only by the virtuous. The Book of Wisdom tells us that when we are not virtuous “we do not know the hidden counsels of God, nor do we grasp the recompense of holiness, nor discern the innocent soul’s reward.” How true! How…
Children’s Corner Solutions are not just what you try to achieve when you’re stuck on a problem. A solution can also be a liquid mixture. You can learn all about solutions and their significance by adding more and more sugar cubes to water. To make it more interesting, why not also change the temperature of…
A healthy sense of guilt is actually a good thing but too much of it can be enormously harmful, writes Jason Osborne The sense of wrongdoing is demonised into oblivion today, and there are obvious reasons for that. Many say the Church focused excessively on eliciting guilt from its followers in decades and centuries past,…
One of two black boxes found from crashed Chinese plane Chinese searchers have found one of two black boxes from a China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed last week in forest-clad mountains with 132 people onboard, the aviation regulator said. The device was severely damaged, and it was not immediately clear if it was the…
Everyday Philosophy What’s the point of philosophy? I don’t mean to offer a justification for my own attempt to get a career out of it. When it comes to academic philosophy the standard reaction – “sure there’s no jobs in that” – could best be described as “harsh but fair”. No, I mean, what’s the…
Over the past few weeks, parishes all around Ireland have been organising listening sessions to give as many people as possible the opportunity to share their thoughts and experience of the Church as part of the synodal path. At the same time many parishes are back to the ‘conveyor belt’ mentality for Sacraments of First…
Maria Byrne
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Chai Brady
Ben Conroy