There is no guarantee the proposed synod will rekindle the Church’s missionary zeal, writes Kingsley Jones The Covid-19 pandemic has been a crisis for Catholics in more ways than one. Not only have we had to deal with a medical emergency, but we’ve also been ambushed by the spirit of our times. While our right…
The bishops’ new year addresses called for dialogue and education around elections, commemorations and the vaccine gap, writes Ruadhán Jones A number of Irish bishops dedicated their new year’s addresses to questions of justice and peace in Ireland in 2022. The year ahead will see elections in Northern Ireland, centenaries and commemorations across the island of…
We cannot celebrate the Eucharist without trying to become ourselves gifts and learning to receive the other as a gift too, writes Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP The questions that Blessed Pierre Claverie faced then, we face today: How to live with strangers? How to open our minds and hearts to people with beliefs which are…
A second diocese in Sicily, where the Mafia has had a significant presence for decades, announced a temporary ban on the naming of godparents for baptisms and confirmations. In a decree that went into effect January 1, Bishop Domenico Mogavero of Mazara del Vallo said the ban would be in effect ad experimentum (on an…
The Dáil debate on whether to accept the Treaty opened on December 21, 1921. The Treaty had been signed early on December 6. The debate took place in the low-ceilinged two room lecture hall, on the second floor of what is now the National Concert Hall. My memory, as a UCD student who attended lectures…
Staff reporter St Mary’s High School Downpatrick’s Choir are raising funds for Catholic charity Cuan Mhuire “during this time of desperate need”. The school choir would typically visit Cuan Mhuire’s Newry residents at Christmas, but this couldn’t go ahead in 2021 due to Covid-19. Instead, the choir released a recording of the carol See Amid…
New Year’s resolutions can be a meaningless fad or a useful blessing, but it’s up to you to decide how they play out, writes Jason Osborne The dawn of the New Year is a highly symbolic time, prompting widespread reflection about how the last year went and how the next one could go. It’s no…
by Marta Osborne Love Notes The Christmas season can be a very reflective and prayerful time when after all the preparations we finally stop and consider the great mystery, the Word became flesh, God became man. As our hearts are rejoicing at the birth of our saviour this might just be the perfect time to…
Personal Profile Tony Foy is executive director of Net Ministries Ireland, a Catholic youth ministry organisation and part of the ‘parallel (or para-)Church’ which Tony says helped foster his own faith. From his youth to his adult life, Tony encountered Christ in a variety of lay organisations, that worked parallel to the sacraments. Brought up…
Although the long-established impact of Covid-19 on faith and worship has been extensively documented, positive news has emerged as Radio Maria announced that it has seen texts, calls and general engagement triple when compared to figures compiled before the pandemic, with the station being used as a faith-based resource by those who were deprived of…
Ruadhán Jones