Mainly About Books by the Books Editor Only part of my week is spent working on these pages for The Irish Catholic. Other days are spent on research for other projects. Recently in the course of these, I lighted upon an article in now The Standard from 1936, the headline of which spoke of “the last of the…
RTÉ is asking people to take part in a survey which aims to guide them in future content decisions and what audiences think about the broadcaster. Currently they are preparing a new ‘Public Service Statement’, which will be a commitment to their audience. In a statement on their website RTÉ said: “All opinions are welcome,…
Children’s Corner Ireland has been using the euro currency for almost 20 years so it’s no wonder that some of our coins have become so dirty they’re almost unrecognisable from their former shiny splendour. If you have lost hope in them, never fear, there’s a fun way of giving them a good polish without the…
In his autobiography, Nikos Kazantzakis shares how in his youth he was driven by a restlessness that had him searching for something he could never quite define. However, he made peace with his lack of peace because he accepted that, given the nature of the soul, he was supposed to feel that restlessness and that…
Holy See urges equal access to labour market Archbishop Janusz Urbańczyk gave voice to the Holy See’s concern that women’s work in the family should be recognised as advancing economic development. While focusing on the promotion of the equality of women and men in economic participation, states “should not fail to pay due attention to…
The world is a poorer place. My beautiful mother Anne has died. She had been in hospital for an operation and sadly contracted coronavirus in there. For the first week of the illness, we held out hope, since she remained cheerful and vibrant as ever. Yet we knew that a grim moment of truth was…
Notebook An Ash Wednesday scene in a home in our parish last week. John, a farmer, comes home after his day’s work is done. His daughter Clara is sitting at the kitchen table studying for her Leaving Certificate. John immediately notices that Clara is sporting a very big black cross on her forehead which she…
Scientists sequence million-year-old mammoth DNA An international team of geneticists has managed to recover and sequence the oldest DNA to date. The researchers extracted severely degraded DNA from the teeth of three ancient mammoths that are believed to have roamed Siberia between 700,000 and 1.2 million years ago. They pieced the DNA together to reveal…
“Where there is no vision the people perish,” is wisdom attributed to King Solomon in the Old Testament. It came to mind this week reflecting on the poor performance of the southern Government when it comes to charting a realistic and hopeful way out of the current level five Covid-19 restrictions. A succession of high-profile…
Bishops: Blanket DNR for Britons with learning disabilities ‘immoral’ Medical orders against attempting to resuscitate patients with learning disabilities in the UK are “wholly unacceptable and immoral”, said the bishops of England and Wales. Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton issued a February 16 statement denouncing the practice of imposing Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary…
Peter Costello
Chai Brady
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Rory Fitzgerald
Michael Kelly