Renowned Italian Catholic tenor Andrea Bocelli took to social media to celebrate his daughter, Virginia’s, First Holy Communion, writing that Communion means “growing in friendship with Jesus and wishing that others too can enjoy the joy he wants to give us”. Catholic faith Well-known for his Catholic faith, Mr Bocelli took the occasion May 16…
A Catholic diocese and nuns are working to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth and the number of children who die young, and a hospital administrator said it does not take expensive technology. The Medical Missionaries of Mary run Mile Four Hospital for the Diocese of Abakaliki. Many of the sisters are…
Initial negotiations have begun between the Catholic Church’s Order of the Holy Sepulchre and Bill Gates’s Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain about the potential opening of a luxury hotel near St Peter’s Basilica, catering to the wealthier tourists and pilgrims visiting the Eternal City. The property in question is the Palazzo di Domenico della…
The Joseph Tree by Isabel Chenot (Wiseblood Books, US $14.00; the publishers can be addressed at P.O. Box 870 Menomonee Falls, WI 53052, USA, or emailed at wisebloodbooks@gmail.com) Isabel Chenot writes beautifully about the transcendent power of nature in this poetry collection. It’s dedicated to a friend who lost her baby son. The poem documenting this is…
A Breath of Fresh Éire by Olga Balaeva (Beehive, €14.99/£12.99) Author and photographer Olga Balaeva is a new kind of Irish writer, representative of the emerging culture of a future island. Born in Moscow she is alive in several languages including Gaelic. She has already Ireland as gaeilge “a user friendly guide to the language”…
Legacy Supplement Lack of policing and policy change in the rental sector is leading to multiple abuses and increased struggle for housing, Threshold tells Chai Brady There are many, many people across Ireland doing all within their power to assist people keep a roof over their heads and make it through the worsening housing crisis…
New South Wales has become the sixth and final Australian state to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. Its legislation forces health care and elder care organisations with religious objections to allow the practice on their premises. “If a civilisation is to be judged by how it treats its weakest members, the New South Wales parliament…
Not everything can be fixed or cured, but it should be named properly. Richard Rohr said that. James Hillman suggests something similar when he wrote that a symptom suffers most when it doesn’t know where it belongs. Some of these seemingly contradict each other, but all of them merit some thought. I leave them for…
Dublin parish wins European climate change award St Anne’s Parish, Shankill, Dublin, was a joint recipient of the European Christian Environmental Network prize for 2022, recognising and affirming Christian environmental action in local churches across Europe. In awarding the prize the jury noted “the complex approach covering practical steps in energy saving with prayers, liturgy…
Legacy Supplement Loss of jobs, hunger and poverty are pushing girls and women out of education and into forced marriage and prostitution due to a prolonged dry period, Chai Brady writes Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are facing a severe drought which is affecting the poorest communities most in a climate change-driven crisis they are unable…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello
Chai Brady
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones