The Vatican’s coronavirus commission and the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a joint statement calling for a coordinated international effort to ensure the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide. The document highlights the “critical role of vaccines to defeat the pandemic, not just for individual personal health but to protect the health of all,” the…
How to be Our Best Self in Times of Crisis by Stuart Breen and Tom Gunning (Veritas, €7.99) As human beings we seemed made to thrive at times in moments of danger. Yet the present pandemic, being what it is, created great and unexpected troubles: physical, mental and spiritual. This little book by two writers…
In a wide-ranging interview, the head of the German bishops’ conference called for far-reaching changes to the Catholic Church and criticised the Vatican’s treatment of the Church in his country. “I would describe myself as conservative because I love this Church and enjoy devoting my life and my strength to it. But I want it…
Deeds Not Words: The Survival of the Fitzmaurices Lords of Kerry 1550 to 1603 by Martin Moore (Gabha Beag publications,€20.00) This splendid study examines the political and military roles of the Fitzmaurices, Lords of Kerry and Barons of Lixnaw, in the Tudor Years of 1550 to 1603. It shows their involvement in local, national and…
Readers may forgive me at this season of peace and goodwill, having already written about my most enjoyed book of last year (The Irish Catholic December 24, 2020), for concluding here my thoughts about 2020 with something I wrote during this Covid-19 year, which – I now discover – seems curiously ad rem: A Poem for 2021 Bunting…
Figures published by the Department of Housing show the number of people who were homeless in November fell by 253 to 8,484 – compared to 8,737 in the previous month. There was also a drop in the number of children who are homeless to 2,452 – a fall of 190. With the country re-entering Level…
Michael Kinsella of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said Ireland should highlight the “very pressing and urgent issues surrounding Christian persecution” now that they are on the UN Security Council. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has also spoken up about the need to tackle religious persecution “whenever and wherever it happens”. Their comments come…
Before moving to Leipzig in 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach held several positions as organist and choirmaster in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar and Cöthen. In Weimar he served under Lutheran Duke Wilhelm Ernst (1662-1728), who had a penchant for religious devotions and aimed to maintain the Church’s ancient musical tradition. This was to Bach’s advantage giving him…
Today, the common question in spiritual circles is not, “What is your church or your religion?” but, “what is your practice?” What is your practice? What is your particular explicit prayer practice? Is it Christian? Buddhist? Islamic? Secular? Do you meditate? Do you do centring prayer? Do you practice Mindfulness? For how long do you…
In this series we have been exploring the depth of meaning in the John Main prayer which we say before meditation. We have examined each of the key phrases in the prayer and now I want to reflect on its overall meaning and how it mirrors the prayer variously known as the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ or…
Peter Costello
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser