Dear Editor, On reading Fr Collin’s article (IC 26/09/19)) on the re-introduction of the prayer to St Michael after Masses in our churches, I was forcibly reminded of a recent report in your paper that the Head of the Jesuit Congregation has openly declared that Satan is not a real person but a metaphor for…
My dear mother Ann died peacefully at 3.37am on Sunday, September 22. I was blessed to be with her at the time, and while I never thought I would describe it as such – it was a beautiful grace. In the days that have passed so many people have been so kind and gracious in…
Relatively soon after the re-unification of Germany in 1990 I made my first visit to Dresden, capital of the eastern state of Saxony. Although part of a group I extricated myself to attend two performances at the city’s famous Semper Opera House – Wagner’s Tannhäuser, which had its première in the Semper in 1845 and…
Youth Space We can open up a space to help people encounter God, writes Gerard Hanley “I’d like to believe in God but he’s probably not real”. This is how I expressed my faith to a friend when I was 13-years-old. I was setting myself up for a life without God. I hadn’t seen,…
Fall and Rise: the story of 9/11 by Mitchell Zuckoff (HarperCollins, £25.00) Felix M. Larkin Not very often do I read a book that I know will live forever in my memory. This is one such book. It tells the stories of a few of the victims of the terrorist attacks in America on September…
Some weeks ago I was lucky enough to be present in England’s New Forest for my god-daughter’s first profession as a Dominican sister. Her community, the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, is a remarkable group of women – warm, supportive, fun, energetic, contemplative and evangelical – and very much a case study in G.K. Chesterton’s…
Well so far the feet look fine and the hips are still working! Danny and I are four days and about seventy kilometres into the Camino de Santiago. We are also celebrating our twenty sixth wedding anniversary today. So what profound reflections have come to me as we walk through woodlands and vineyards, up boulder-strewn…
In place of religious services on Sunday Mornings, RTÉ 1 has been trying out a new format on an occasional basis. I’m a big fan of Life and Soul, and enjoyed the latest episode last Sunday morning. As usual the focus was on personal stories interspersed with prayers, bible readings and musical interludes. And it’s…
China harvesting organs from minority groups, activists say The Chinese government is harvesting organs from religious and ethnic minorities, a human rights organisation told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last week. The China Tribunal, which calls itself an “independent, international people’s tribunal” that investigates allegations of organ harvesting in the country, said…
Notebook Fr Bernard Healy As October rolls around again, I return to Rome to resume my studies. My first fortnight back will coincide with two significant events. On Saturday October 5, Pope Francis will be creating 13 new cardinals, and a week later he will be canonising Blessed John Henry Newman, the subject of…
Michael Kelly
Greg Daly
Bairbre Cahill
Brendan O’Regan