A particularly powerful Gospel story recounts Jesus meeting with a Syro-Phoenician woman. Central to that story is where their encounter takes place, on the borders of Samaria. For Jesus, Samaria was a foreign territory, both in terms of ethnicity and religion. In his encounter with this woman, he is standing at the edges, the borders, of…
Powering The Nation. Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland by Sorcha O’Brien (Irish Academic Press, €29.99) Joe Carroll Today the Shannon hydroelectric scheme at Ardnacrusha produces about one-eighth of our electricity requirements and is mainly used at peak demand. But when it was switched on in 1929 it was designed to electrify the…
More than 40% of those who will attend the World Meeting of Families in the RDS will come from overseas, giving the capital a huge injection of visitors. The three-day pastoral congress takes place from August 22-24 and is seen as an opportunity to reflect on the key themes chosen by Pope Francis for the…
WMOF2018 Brenda Drumm A new series of digital animations and a six-part television series has been launched as part of ongoing preparations for the World Meeting of Families 2018 and the visit of Pope Francis. Both of these new resources focus on Amoris Laetitia, the document written by Pope Francis on love in the family.…
Walking through history If you’re looking for a chance to experience traditional Irish culture while having a blast, then check out Irish Heritage Week. A great opportunity to explore your background, it will be held at places all around the nation from August 18 to August 26. Many national and hundreds of local communities participate…
Mary Carson honoured for ‘outstanding’ service Members of the Youghal Catholic Young Mens’ Society gathered in the town on July 20 to honour Mary Carson who was retiring as supervisor of the local Community Employment Scheme. A special evening was held for Mary and her family where huge praise was bestowed on Mary from the Honorary Vice President, Brendan Cooney for…
WMOF 2018 The countdown is on, and with the excitement building for the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) the Archdiocese of Armagh will host an opening festival beginning at 5pm on August 21 in the Shambles Market. The festival is free to all and promises to be a joyful celebration of family including music,…
Dear Editor, I’ve been very interested in the extensive coverage of the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae reiterating the Church’s ban on artificial methods of birth control. At the same time, I see that the US-based organisation that styles itself ‘Catholic for Conscience’ carried out a survey in Ireland which found that…
The Primate of All Ireland has expressed his sadness and condolences following the death of Bishop Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh, retired auxiliary Archbishop of Dublin. He died on July 29 in the care of the Blackrock Clinic after a long illness. Archbishop Eamonn Martin said he was “saddened to hear” about the death of the bishop…
WMOF 2018 The young adult leaders of Living Youth recently enjoyed their training programme at Ards Friary in Creeslough, Donegal, in preparation for the pilgrimage to Taizé and the World Meeting of Families. They had input from Bro. Richard, completed their safeguarding training, and enjoyed the beach and a paddle.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Chai Brady