For most of my lifetime, the material circumstances of our lives have steadily improved. The panic-buying of toilet paper – perhaps worse in Britain than in Ireland – illuminates just how spoiled, even decadent, we have become. In my childhood, back in the 1950s, it wasn’t unusual to enter a loo and find squares cut…
Chai Brady and Aron Hegarty A third of people watching television in Ireland on Sunday at 11am were watching Mass according to RTÉ’s Head of Religious Programmes, with the number of viewers rising substantially. Over 160,000 people tuned in to Mass celebrated by Fr Gabriel Kinahan on March 22 as the coronavirus (Covid-19) continues…
Amid the scramble to find a cure for the coronavirus and enforcing restrictive measures to try to slow down its expansion, there has been relatively little attention to the underlying factors which explain why some places have been harder hit, more quickly, than others. One emerging hypothesis is that there may be a correlation between…
A leading trailblazer in the fight against clergy sexual abuse is to receive the highest honour in the US Church. On March 22, the University of Notre Dame announced that Dr Kathleen McChesney, who worked for decades in law enforcement before being tapped to establish and lead the Office of Child Protection for the United States…
Covid-19: The Faithful respond Although the work of healthcare chaplains is generally face-to-face, “listening compassionately, connecting immediately and loving unconditionally”, the Director of Pastoral Care in Tallaght Hospital told The Irish Catholic they have updated how they connect with patients in light of the coronavirus crisis. They will now be giving patients the option…
Bishops in New Zealand have criticised the decision to pass a new abortion bill approved by the country’s legislature last week. The country’s House of Representatives passed the Abortion Legislation Bill on March 18, legalising abortion throughout the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. “There is no longer any recognition of the rights of the unborn…
Covid-19: The Faithful respond In Cobh parish they have been receiving Mass via Facebook Live every morning at 9am. On Sunday Bishop William Crean of the Diocese of Cloyne celebrated Mass with Cobh’s clergy. Jennifer Buckley of Cobh Parish said: “Our musical director Dominic Finn and Cantor Patrick O’ Donoghue played and sang from…
Young people have been dealing on their own long enough with an enemy that pre-dates the present viral fears – but help is at hand, writes Aron Hegarty Early intervention and bridging a gap between referrals and receiving support holds the key to tackling Ireland’s youth mental health crisis, according to several experts. The…
A Northern Irish priest has paid tribute to the late American singer Kenny Rogers as a man who “found his Faith” and “made his peace” for mistakes made earlier in his career. Fr Brian D’Arcy, a Passionist priest based in Co. Down, said the late Rogers, who died on March 20 aged 81, embarked on…
The Archdiocese of Sao Paulo has offered their House of Prayer as a community centre for the city to lodge homeless persons who get the coronavirus (Covid-19). Homeless communities throughout the country are among the most vulnerable to the virus, Church officials in Brazil said. “The House of Prayer is already used for activities with…
Mary Kenny
John L. Allen Jr.