Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City has expressed gratitude that lives were spared and that all residents of the Missouri capital are accounted for following a devastating tornado. He said in a May 23 statement that the staff of Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri were assessing the needs of residents. Some people were…
Susan Gately and Chai Brady In the aftermath of the divorce referendum, the Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, has called for ongoing backing for marriage, including civil marriage and ‘sustainable communities’. “We have to give serious consideration to preparation for marriage,” said Bishop Kevin Doran emphasising that he was not only referring to sacramental…
Entering the hearts of young people can only be done by listening, according to a well-known Dublin nun who has used music as a window to help young people realise their inner gifts for decades. Sr Bernadette Sweeney is a self-proclaimed risk taker and certainly deserves the title. Currently based in Crumlin she has been…
Questions of Faith There are plenty of religious artefacts, statues and artistic pieces which elicit intrigue, wonder and sometimes confusion. One object that fits into this category is the Moses – a sculpture by the famous Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti – which is housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. It…
Mindful living Dr Noel Keating In this article I present an account of what it can be like for a child to experience meditation, based on what children have told me. I want to stress that this is not the experience of any one child. Although written in the first person, the description is a…
The deconstruction of marriage continues apace, writes David Quinn. The divorce referendum has passed by a margin of 82% to 18%. To put it another way, more than 1.3 million people voted in favour of it and about 300,000 voted against. The turnout was 50%. What exactly did people vote for? In their own…
The Polish bishops’ administrative council met in emergency session on May 22 and later admitted the Church failed to act against clerical sexual abuse. The meeting came amid outrage over a two-hour documentary, ‘Just Don’t Tell Anyone’, that included drastic accounts of cover-up of clerical sex abuse in Poland. The film had more than 19…
Staff reporter The Bishop of Kilmore’s recent retirement as well as the golden jubilee of his ordination will be celebrated on Sunday, June 9, with an open invitation extended for the Mass and reception. A diocesan spokesperson said: “Bishop Leo was highly respected and greatly admired by everyone. Many people can testify to his pastoral…
The First Rose of Tralee A novel by Patricia O’Reilly (Poolbeg, €15.99) The fact file on ‘The Rose of Tralee’ claims that the words of the song were composed by Edmund Mordaunt Spencer, the music by Charles William Glover. However local tradition claims that it was written by William Pembroke Mulchinock, a wealthy Protestant, who…
Nations obliged to ‘care for poor’, Pope says Nations, like individuals, have a “solemn duty” to care for the poor and to work together to promote development, Pope Francis told a group of ambassadors beginning their service at the Vatican. International cooperation for development and for peace-making tap into a common, universal desire to experience…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
David Quinn