Month: October 2020

Faith in the Family

I have just had the privilege and delight of being bean an tí for an online discussion panel about how as families and parishes we can care for creation. On the panel were Bishop Alan McGuckian of Raphoe Diocese, Nóirín Lynch Director of the Margaret Aylward Centre for Faith and Dialogue in Glasnevin and Jane…

‘I am innocent’

Vatican cardinal forced to resign insists he will prove the Pope was wrong In an impromptu press conference held the day after his unexpected resignation was announced, Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu argued that he is innocent of accusations of illegal financial activity and will prove his innocence if given the chance. “In our meeting, the…

Bishops hail declaration eliminating state religion in Sudan

Sudanese people can now “worship and practice their various religious beliefs without fear”, said the general secretary of the Sudanese bishops’ conference. The official, Fr Peter Suleiman, welcomed Sudan’s decision to separate religion and state. In early September, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Abdel al-Hilu, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North rebel group, signed…

Fr Liam Boyle: Becoming all things to all men

Personal Profile While he finds himself ministering to the vibrant, albeit restricted, student body at Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) these days, Fr Liam Boyle’s beginnings didn’t indicate this setting in later life. “As a young child, or even as a young teenager, I didn’t have any strong faith. There were certainly points where I…

The hidden face of evil

We tend to be naïve about evil, at least as to what it looks like in everyday life. Our picture of evil has been falsely shaped by images taken from mythology, religious cults, and from books and movies that portray evil as personified in sinister spiritual forces. Demons haunt houses, appear at séances, are summoned…

Vatican Roundup

Good Samaritan letter 
reiterates condemnation of 
assisted suicide and euthanasia On Tuesday, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced the publication of a letter approved by Pope Francis on June 25 and entitled ‘Samaritanus bonus (The Good Samaritan): On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life’. It bears…

Catching a moment

Gerard Byrne is a Dublin-based artist with a studio in Ranelagh. A leading figure in the Irish art world, for some time he has been painting streetscapes in the Rathmines and Pembroke areas, which have already attracted a lot of attention. I met him at work recently, painting the oldest house in Wellington Place in…

15 catechists commissioned for Elphin 
diocese


Fifteen volunteer catechists were commissioned for service in the Diocese of Elphin by Bishop Kevin Doran at Mass in Sligo Cathedral over the weekend. Known as ‘Partners in the Gospel’, the catechists are lay parishioners from parishes across the diocese who have completed a four-year formation programme, including academic studies in Theology and Catechetics at…