Month: November 2013

In the week since our last issue the world has been marking the anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. This has evoked many articles, and a Hollywood film, Parkland, about the immediate aftermath of the crime. We all of us remember where we were when we heard the…

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I’ve long been a fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music, and was aware of some religious elements in his work – for example those traditional Gospel songs he recorded for his Seeger Sessions album. In fact at one stage one of his guitars featured an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an image that adorned his…

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Saving Mr Banks (PG)   Mary Poppins remains one of the most loved (and popular) Walt Disney films of all time. It was also one of the first to combine animation with real characters, not Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as many people believe. Not much is known about P.L. Travers, the writer of the book on…

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Anyone familiar with the life and writings of Simone Weil will, I am sure, agree that she was a woman of exceptional faith. She was also a woman with an unwavering commitment to the poor. But, and this may seem anomalous, she was also exceptional and unwavering in a certain resistance she had towards the…

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Dear Editor, – Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them (Shakespeare). A great man has passed in the person of Fr Alec Reid – though his characteristic humility would’ve undoubtedly seen him embarrassed as such sentiment. In a world that lauds multimillionaire football players and loose-living celebrities…

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