Tomi Reichental says his experience of the Holocaust was “hell on earth” and fears history may “repeat itself” with the migrant crisis and the rise of populist politics in Europe. The Irish-based 85-year-old survivor drew comparisons of Jews being taken to Nazi concentration camps to refugees being displaced around the continent. He said: “When we…
The Middle East Council of Churches has called for prayer and peace-building initiatives amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and the Arab world. The council’s executive committee, concluding a two-day meeting in Cyprus last week, said its gathering occurred “in the midst of the bloody and painful events that beset our countries”. In their…
According to one bishop, Nicaragua has been living a “moral cold war” since the civil uprising that has left hundreds of people dead began in April 2018; Colombia is no longer in a state of “emergency, but of social survival”; and the papal representative in Chile shared his thoughts on the situation of the local…
Tribute to a statesman Perhaps his greatest achievements were reforms around policing and justice, writes Martin Mansergh Seamus Mallon played an indispensable role in the SDLP as deputy leader of that party, of which he was part of the bedrock in deeply dangerous times. In later years, he received a great deal of…
Prominent theologian Fr Vincent Twomey SVD has said that the Church in Ireland must go farther to atone for the crimes of abuse and cover-up by Church leaders. He warned that “repentance begins with the courageous facing-up to the past and the frank acknowledgment of wrongdoing”. One way of doing this, he said, “would be…
A deep frost had carpeted the garden with diamonds. A white mist rose from the stream in the woods, cut through with shafts of golden sunlight. The branches of the naked trees stretched their frosted limbs to the blue sky, where a half moon loitered. From the warmth of the kitchen, where last night’s fire still…
Recently on the popular US television program Saturday Night Live, a comedian made a rather colourful wisecrack in response to an answer that Nancy Pelosi had given to a journalist who had accused her of hating the President. Pelosi had stated that, as a Roman Catholic, she hates no one – and this prompted the…
My American Journey, by Douglas Hyde edited by L. Mac Mathúna, B. Ó Conchubhair, N. Comer, C. Ó Seireadáin & M. Nic An Bhaird (UCD Press, €50.00) Felix M. Larkin Douglas Hyde (1860-1949), long an almost forgotten figure in Irish history, is at last beginning to receive the scholarly attention that he undoubtedly…
Róise McGagh asks: At the heart of it all, why are people lonely? Why do we get lonely? A simple question with a very complex answer. Is making an effort to interact with more people in a day the way to cure it? It is estimated that around 400,000 people in Ireland suffer from loneliness.…
Tribute to a statesman In 2015, the late Seamus Mallon sat down with The Irish Catholic northern correspondent Martin O’Brien for an interview in which he offered rare insights into his life of faith. On the occasion of his death, we reproduce it here Statesman, patriot, Catholic, primary carer to Gertrude, his dementia-stricken…
Rory Fitzgerald
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Martin O'Brien