Séamus Dooley When the novelist Benedict Kiely died in February 2007 Msgr Tom Stack, who had received his remains at the Church of the Sacred Heart, wrote an incisive tribute in the Donnybrook parish bulletin. Benedict Kiley, he wrote, “was above all else, a storyteller. The need we all have to hear the ‘story’ was fulfilled…
Fr Paddy Byrne has hailed the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine as “hope” yet has offered criticism of the delays in getting the vaccine to the Irish people. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, the Abbeyleix priest said he believes getting the vaccine to the population “must be more than a 9-5 job”, and said he…
Did you ever notice how days’ significance changes over the years? In my early years, those quiet days between Christmas and Epiphany had little character. One day was like another, merely time reserved for lolling around, eating sweets and watching television. Then one year my mother died, a couple of days after New Year’s Day.…
The idea of journey is a central motif in our Faith. Whether it is Abraham leaving his homeland to go to the Promised Land or Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt – the People of God on the move is a constant. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) describes the Church as being on a…
Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was knighted in a new year’s honours list. He was honoured alongside hundreds of people recognised for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Hamilton’s knighthood comes on the back of personal success, as he equalled Michael Schumacher’s title record and was awarded a second BBC Sports Personality of the…
The monumental decision taken by Pope Francis to visit Iraq in March will no doubt be one for the history books. Although the current pontiff is no stranger to visiting territories plagued by conflict and seemingly perpetual violence, this will be the first time a Pope has ever visited Iraq, a country which is the…
One certainly can’t accuse the Vatican of being part of what Italians call the “no vax” crowd, meaning resistance to the Covid-19 vaccines. Not only did the Vatican nip a Catholic form of such opposition in the bud recently by signing off on the morality of the vaccine, but on December 2 the Vatican announced…
An online exhibition highlighting the histories of the unique and rare collections of the library of Trinity College Dublin is available online and represents 3,000 years of “creativity, memory and knowledge”. The Library of Trinity College Dublin dates back to the establishment of the college in 1592 and is the largest library in Ireland. Its…
Less than two weeks after Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk was allowed to return to Belarus after a four-month exile, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted the archbishop’s resignation on his 75th birthday. In a statement January 3, the Holy See Press Office said that the Pope had accepted the archbishop’s resignation in…
Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap The baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan marks the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. He came out of the years of hidden life. There was no need for Jesus, being without sin, to participate in the ceremonial washing that John the Baptist offered people. But by submitting…
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady
John L. Allen Jr.