With Covid-19 still taking a toll across Europe, Catholic bishops are backing vaccination campaigns, while also counselling against coercion. In Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has warned of tougher restrictions on those refusing jabs, the president of the bishops’ conference said in late July that vaccination should be a personal choice, but he urged…
Macra na Feirme has insisted that young farmers are key in tackling agricultural sector emissions reductions targets. Responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report this week, the rural youth organisation said that young farmers right across the country have already demonstrated a willingness to engage in measures that both reduce emissions and…
Rare letters from Cardinal John Henry Newman are among items up for sale in an upcoming auction of the contents of Howth Castle. The 24 letters described as “extremely rare” by auctioneers were written by the saint between the period 1863-1878. The letters are addressed to Thomas Gaisford, eldest son of the late Dean of…
Philosophy should be understood as a manner of living and not just an exercise done in an armchair or a classroom writes Dr Philip Gonzales It is often said that philosophy deals with the deepest human realities such as birth and death and this is, indeed, true. Moreover, it is also true, as Socrates famously…
Italian police announced Monday that they have identified the sender of a letter addressed to Pope Francis containing three bullets. While the police haven’t released the name of the suspect, they said August 9 that it is a French citizen “already known to Vatican security, with whom the Carabinieri of Milan will now coordinate to…
Frozen in time, like a “musical Pompeii,” the 221 remaining original organ pipes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem may fill a gap of knowledge of more than three centuries in the history of the organ and its cultural context, medieval church culture, music and technology. “This organ dates from the 12th century…
While the weather doesn’t support it at the moment, the ever-shortening summer implores us to get the grills out, writes Jason Osborne Summer’s close is always somewhat anxiety-producing as you realise how little time you have left for all of the things you wanted and planned to do during the summer. While the current weather…
This Sunday August 15 – the Solemnity of the Assumption – a Eurovision Mass will be celebrated and broadcast live from Knock Basilica on RTÉ One at 11am. The main celebrant will be Fr Richard Gibbons, PP and Rector of Knock Shrine. The liturgy will feature music by the Schola Cantorum Basilicae under the direction…
Letter from Beirut Doreen Abi Raad A year after the catastrophic Beirut port blast, the wounds of the people in Lebanon are scarred by the memory of the tragedy, and cries for justice escalate. This year, August 4 was declared a national day of mourning in Lebanon. Clutching a framed photograph of her husband Elie,…
Catholic Church leaders in the Philippines signed documents with the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), or Philippine Independent Church, “for more ecumenical cooperation amidst diversity.” In a joint statement signed on August 3, leaders of both churches said that together they “ask and pray for mutual forgiveness for any injuries inflicted in the past.” “We shall strive for…
Ruadhán Jones