Senator Ronan Mullen has dismissed a reply from the Department of Health as “a pretty pathetic response” after he asked the Minister for Health to clarify the State’s legal position on public worship. Almost two months after asking the question, Mr Mullen was told in the letter that the matters he raised are subject of…
A Catholic priest’s oratory in Scotland has reached the finals of this year’s ‘Shed of the Year’ competition. Fr Len Black from Inverness battled 331 entrants to reach the final of the Cuprinol Shed of the Year. The competition is in its 15th year, with the number of entrants doubling this year compared to 2020.…
One of the most comforting aspects of Catholic Christianity is that its ethos is forgiving. Whatever sins or transgressions you may have committed, they will be forgiven (after due repentance). We have the words of the Saviour himself that it is a faith for sinners. Worldly practices How different from many of the worldly practices…
An Irishwoman’s cause for canonisation has been opened by an order she founded in Texas. The cause for Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy of Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, is being forwarded by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. A post on the order’s website May 20 revealed that the process of seeking Mother…
As Masses return to military barracks around the country, Fr Seamus Madigan has praised the dedication and hard work of military chaplains during the pandemic. His comments come as attendance of in-person worship restarted fully in military settings across the country, following a short delay in reopening churches in them. Fr Madigan, the head chaplain…
The View In 1993, the great American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote that “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be un-lived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again”. Northern Ireland has been trying to find ways to face its past for decades now. In 2020, the New Decade, New…
President Higgins has cautioned against new forms of intolerance in an address at the Young Philosopher Awards 2021. Mr Higgins said that “replacing” old forms of intolerance with new ones does not signify “the creation of a progressive or more open, broadminded or democratic society”. Philosophy can lead to “wisdom and respect,” and an understanding…
Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver said he was “filled with deep sadness” after learning of the discovery of the bodies of more than 200 children buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest indigenous residential school. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation May 30 reported an “unthinkable loss” that was “never documented” at…
The demand for Catholic education remains strikingly high, but what is the value, asks Tracey Harkin Some 23 years after the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland is still not a society at ease with itself. Recent months saw substantial street violence. Frequently we hear integrated schools being heralded as the answer to these divisions. “Educate…
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the much-needed support given by deacons, writes Chai Brady In many ways the Church in Ireland has been slow to roll out the permanent diaconate which has been a feature in other countries for about half a century after Vatican II’s decision to bring it back in the 60s. It…
Chai Brady
Mary Kenny
Ruadhán Jones
Nuala O’Loan