Watching Mass at home is a poor substitute for full participation in the liturgy, Bishop Donal McKeown has warned. He also said that the Church is held together “not by human strength but by God’s providence and plan”. In a homily at the weekend, the Bishop of Derry expressed the “hope that we will soon…
Academy unveils effort to fight Mafia’s ‘deviant spirituality’ of Mary Given the many criminal organisations and gangs worldwide that have distorted the true role and image of Mary, a pontifical academy has unveiled a new department dedicated to fighting “this deviant spirituality”. The Pontifical Marian International Academy will be working with the Italian government and law enforcement…
The boundary bet-ween traditional and social media is still pretty clear, but there are some interesting things going on in the blurred border area. Facebook Live, for example, merges TV and social media very effectively. It gathers video content that people have posted on Facebook and lets you watch them in one place. Last week…
Herbert McCabe. Recollecting a fragmented legacy by Franco Manni, foreward by David B. Burrell (Cascade Books, £50.00/$26.98) Frank Litton One man in his time can touch many minds and souls. Anthony Kenny, Alasdair MacIntyre, Stanley Hauerwas, David B. Burrell, Brian Davies, Rowan Williams, Denys Turner, are among today’s most eminent philosophers and theologians. All have produced…
WHO leader supports Pope’s call for fair access to vaccine The head of the World Health Organization, which has been strongly advocating rapid, fair, and equitable access to potential Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, has voiced support for Pope Francis’ similar call for global protections. The Pope made appeals both on Twitter and at his weekly general…
Notebook During the week we re-scheduled a date for First Holy Communion. It is another re-scheduled date in a year of cancellations, postponements, and disappointments. The hope is that the new date will go ahead and that the day the children have waited for will come, be lived, enjoyed and forever remembered. That, of course,…
Parents to be reimbursed for alternative school transport if students unable to social distance Minister for Education Norma Foley has announced that parents whose children cannot social distance on school buses can be reimbursed for organising alternative transport. The Department of Education has scrapped plans to run buses at full capacity for secondary school students…
Dear Editor, I cannot be alone in noticing a worrisome phenomenon amongst some people who describe themselves as Catholics to reject and denigrate all legitimate authority within the life of the Church. This used to be a phenomenon exclusive to those who would view themselves on the ‘left’ of the Church rejecting such teachings as…
Going to ‘the pictures’ during the pandemic isn’t much different for film reviewers. We usually experience social distancing at press shows anyway – what’s different is the hygiene regimen, the sanitisation, the often eerie silence. And of course the contactless payments. I feel like Jeff Bezos flashing my Visa card around. It will be difficult…
New mural unveiled as devotion to Sr Clare grows An Irish nun who died while helping children flee an earthquake in Ecuador has been hailed as a saint for a new generation of young Catholics as devotion to her continues to spread. A new shrine to Sr Clare Crockett was unveiled in her native Derry…
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
Ruadhán Jones