Notebook We are still in the early days of Lent so maybe there’s space here for a thought or two around the journey to and through repentance. There is a call to repentance that is central to the Lenten season. I recall sitting in the church one morning, a while before Mass. This is something…
The President of Argentina has said he will send a bill to legalise abortion to Congress within the next week. Alberto Fernandez, who was sworn in as the country’s president in December, has previously described abortion as “a matter of public health”. At present, abortion in Argentina is only allowed in cases of rape or…
Put down phone, pick up Bible – Pope’s Lent advice Pope Francis has told Catholics to use the season of Lent to spend less time watching television or being on their phones, and to spend more time reading the Bible. The Pope reflected on the “desert” of Lent during his weekly general audience and how…
Dear Editor, When I first went to Jaffa, Israel, to work as a chef for an Anglican guest house a different choice of breakfast was offered each morning of the week. One of the choices was homemade pancakes, or crepes, which had to be tossed in a very hot frying pan. Some of the volunteer…
Sweet Treats Churros are a traditional Spanish treat made with dough similar to a choux pastry which is piped into cylinders and deep-fried. They are crunchy and golden on the outside but wonderfully soft on the inside. If that doesn’t sound indulgent enough, they are then coated in cinnamon sugar. A definite crowd pleaser! Ingredients:…
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward Grosz, auxiliary bishop of Buffalo, who has been accused of mishandling a sex abuse allegation. Grosz, who turned 75 on February 16, offered his resignation at the age required by canon law. The Vatican’s announcement on March 2 accepting Grosz’s resignation did not indicate whether it…
Larry Donnelly At a recent town hall forum sponsored by Fox News, likely Democratic primary voters had a chance to interact with the 38-year-old Mayor of South Bend, Indiana and then a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination, Pete Buttigieg. One possibly unexpected and trying question came from Kristen Day, head of the Democrats for…
The Tokyo archdiocese has suspended all public Mass until March 14 as a precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Archbishop Isao Kikuchi issued the directive on February 25 for two weeks from the day after Ash Wednesday. The directive is in response to Japan’s government policy on measures to protect against the outbreak…
My inclinations are to regard the hullaballoo about the coronavirus – Covid19 – with a pinch of salt. Yes, it’s upsetting that more than 3,000 people world-wide have died from the epidemic: but (at the time of writing) that’s out of 90,933 who have caught it. To put it in perspective, the World Health Organisation…
Bishops in the Middle East have called for a regional youth gathering similar to World Youth Day to be established for young Catholics in Arab countries. The proposed ‘World Day of Youth of the Arab Regions’ would take place in Jordan as the first host country with the goal of encouraging “mass participation”, according to…
Mary Kenny