The official website of the next World Youth Day has been launched. The website went live just hours after Pope Francis made the announcement in Brazil that the next WYD will take place in Krakow, Poland in 2016. The new website has a section dedicated to John Paul II, who spent much of his…
Month: September 2013
Faith and safety online
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has teamed up with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to launch ‘Faith and Safety’, a new website to help parents keep their kids safe on the web. The site is full of tips on how to secure devices and networks, and features some thought provoking advice.…
A significant man of the Rising
This biography of Edward Daly is part of a series on the 16 executed leaders of the Easter Rising. The author is a grandniece of Edward Daly, hence she has been able to enhance her account with some fascinating and insightful family lore. Daly was born in Limerick on February 28, 1891 into a…
The unguarded revelations of a great soul
Fr Benignus O’Rourke OSA is an Augustinian friar and the bestselling author of Finding Your Hidden Treasure. In this new book, which was published on St Augustine’s feast day, Fr O’Rourke gives us a superb translation of the Confessions, which is perhaps the most important spiritual autobiography ever written. St Augustine is undoubtedly the…
Recent books in brief
Peter CostelloCroagh Patrick: Irelandís Holy Mountain edited by Harry Hughes (Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee, €14.95 / £12.70; Croagh Patrick Visitor Centre, Teach na Miasa, Murrisk, Co. Mayo; email: info@croagh-patrick.com) We are all familiar with the photographs of pilgrimages making their slow way up the slops of Croagh Patrick at the time of the annual pilgrimage. The…
Derry pilgrims inspired on Iona
A group of Derry pilgrims have celebrated the Year of Faith with a pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland, to celebrate the 1450th anniversary of St Columba’s departure from their home city. Led by Fr Roland Colhoun and Fr Paddy O’Kane, the pilgrims retraced St Columba’s footsteps on the island he had made his home for…
Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry parish gatherings
Since 2007 the Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry Parish Area have been hosting gatherings in each corner of the parish for friends and neighbours to meet and celebrate the Eucharist. Each house in the parish got a special invitation to become part of the initiative and the gatherings are held during the summer months beginning on May Eve each…
International news briefs
Syria Day of prayer The September 7 day of prayer for peace in Syria, called by Pope Francis, was matched by the Sunni Muslim community in the war-torn country. Ahead of the worldwide event, the Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badreddin Hassou, publicly welcomed the Pope’s appeal as “good and for the good of humanity”…
The confidence of priesthood
Dear Editor, Over the past few years and especially during the ordination ‘season’ of June/July, you have covered the phenomenon which can only be described as a sort of clericalism (in the best sense of the word). By that your pictures show the newly ordained in full cottas, amices and bright gold Roman vestments; heightened…
Questions for Bishop Smith
Dear Editor, I can’t help but wonder what Bishop Smith, Fr Patrick Mulcahy and the rest of the ‘ban the eulogy and all traces of humanity from funerals’ wing of the Catholic Church made of the carry-on at the funeral of the late, great Seamus Heaney. There you had piper Liam O’Flynn celebrating with Port…