Tall Grass: Stories of Suffering & Peace in Northern Uganda by Carlos Rodríguez Soto (Fountain Publishers, Kampala, Uganda, £23.00pb; available via Amazon) The author, a Spanish priest, is a member of the Comboni Missionary Society. He served for 25 years in the society’s mission in Northern Uganda. Apart from three years in Kampala, editing a diocesan magazine,…
The Rising. Ireland: Easter 1916 by Fearghal McGarry (Oxford University Press, £20hb) Joe Carroll This is a special ‘centenary edition’ of Dr McGarry’s book which was first published in 2010 and earned the accolade then as “the finest account yet of the 1916 Rising”. Since then, new books on the Rising are almost overflowing from Eason’s bookshop…
This week the civilised world has been marking the fourth centenary of the death of William Shakespeare, poet, playwright and businessman. Universally admired he may be, but his works have suffered many vicissitudes over the years. The man himself began as a poet in a classical sense. The dramas came perhaps as a way of…
“Everything about that celebration was… a celebration of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, inclusion”, writes Fr Martin Delaney In 2013, when the movie Philomena was released, worldwide attention was focused briefly on Seán Ross Abbey near Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. Seán Ross was the mother and baby home where Philomena Lee had given…
Happiness is not an ‘app’ that can be downloaded, while freedom and our true value can never be bought, Pope Francis has reminded thousands of teenagers. In a homily to a crowd of about 100,000 people gathered for a special Year of Mercy event for youths aged 13 to 16, the Pope urged the assembled…
Religion misused in Brazilian standoff Brazilian Christian leaders have expressed concern about how many members of the country’s Chamber of Deputies invoked religion when voting on April 17 to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. Carlos Moura, executive secretary of the Brazilian bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, said the commission experienced “an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment and dissatisfaction over the words…
The Archdiocese of New York has rejected allegations that it had been planning to smear the Catholic journalist Michael Voris. Mr Voris, the editor of ChurchMilitant.com, claimed that the archdiocese had been collecting information about his personal life before he became a Catholic “with the aim of publicly discrediting me, this apostolate and the work…
Britain’s House of Commons has voted to declare that a genocide is underway against Christians, Yazidis and others in Syria and Iraq. The vote, by 278 votes to zero, marks the first time the House of Commons has declared a genocide while it was taking place. The motion, moved by Fiona Bruce MP, recognised that…
The four Missionaries of Charity sisters murdered in Yemen last month were models for all Christians, the Auxiliary Bishop of Nairobi has said. Speaking in the Kenyan capital’s Holy Family Basilica at a requiem mass for the souls of India’s Sr Mary Anselm, Rwanda’s Sr Mary Marguerite and Sr Mary Reginette, and Kenya’s Sr Mary…
Miles Ahead (15A) For those of us who’ve watched Don Cheadle in films over the years – not all of which could be described as consciousness-raising – it comes as some surprise to see him eating the heart and soul out of a part. He does that here with his electrifying portrayal of jazz legend…
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone