I recently mentioned some Christian-themed films you can watch on Netflix. There are many others as well, some of which you may have already seen, like The Two Popes. It got a lot of publicity at the time of its release. It has Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as the future Pope…
Dear Editor, A headline in your newspaper [IC 09/07/2020] ‘New Government could ‘kick Churches out of education’ warns Senator’ saddened me deeply. I was educated in a Catholic school many years ago (too many years) and am proud of being a Catholic. It was free education for which I am very grateful. During the 1950s…
After lockdown, Italy’s bishops seek new ways to engage parishioners Italy’s bishops will need to help their communities participate more in parish life and return to taking part in the sacraments in ways that continue to respect evolving measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to their conference leadership. When Masses were once…
Summer outings (No.2 in a six-part series) Daniel O’Connor The Canon Daniel O’Connor (1843-1919) was the parish priest in the 1890s in whose domain Lough Derg and the ancient Shrine of St Patrick’s Purgatory lay. He was one of its first real historians of the place, a writer who devoted many years to collecting and…
The Vatican has insisted that bishops must consult with parishioners when decisions are made about reorganisation of parishes. Rome also warned this week that a lack of priestly vocations or financial pressure in a diocese is not a good enough reason for a bishop to close parishes or sell churches. It comes as many dioceses…
Jason Osborne The head of religious programming at the national broadcaster has said he has been moved by the many people who have written to thank the station for broadcasting daily Mass while churches were closed due to Covid-19. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Roger Childs, the Commissioning Editor of Religious Programmes at RTÉ, said:…
Dublin priest Fr Hugh O’Connell has said Ven. Matt Talbot is “already a saint” and called on Irish people to recognise his holiness. Quoting Talbot’s biographer Mary Purcell, Fr O’Donnell said “saints are saints not because of the official proclamation, but because they are holy”. “As far as I’m concerned, he is a saint,” Fr…
Downplaying committed relationships and fidelity in favour of “the right to choose” comes at a great cost for the young and the fragile, says Bishop McKeown. Reflecting on the parable of the wheat and the weeds, Bishop McKeown said it offers us material from which we can “speak into society”. “Political discourse has so often…
Almost 60% of nursing homes inspected by HIQA after having outbreaks of Covid-19 may have had more severe outbreaks than they should have had because of weak governance and management. In a report on the impact of the virus on nursing homes published on Tuesday, HIQA said half of the facilities which had cases weren’t…
Well-known actor Zac Efron called Lourdes sanctuary “an incredibly special and holy place” in his new Netflix documentary Down to Earth. In the second episode of the series, which focused on water, there was a large section dedicated to the famous pilgrimage site. Efron narrates over scenes of Lourdes candles, statues of Our Lady, the…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady