Staff reporter Hollywood star Russell Crowe is set to star as the late Fr Gabriel Amorth, widely known as ‘The Vatican’s Chief Exorcist’, in upcoming movie The Pope’s Exorcist. Mr Crowe hit the headlines recently as he took in Rome on a holiday with family, including a trip to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine…
Everyday Philosophy Philosophy is having a bit of a moment in Ireland. It became a Junior Certificate short course in 2016, and there are moves afoot to make it a Leaving Certificate subject. The Philosophy Ireland organisation is running more workshops every year, in schools, workplaces and prisons. Our president made the promotion of philosophy…
Portal: Otherworldly Wonders of Ireland’s Bogs, Wetlands and Eskers text and photographs by Tina Claffey, foreword by Matthijs Schouten (Currach Books, €29.99/£25.99) This book came in hand during weeks in which California, the south of France, Spain, London and other places are being ravaged by fires, fires which are directly attributable to climate change promoted by…
Now is the time for priests and people to plan creatively for a future together, writes Fr Gareth Byrne Unprecedented change is coming in the Archdiocese of Dublin. In April 2021, Archbishop Dermot Farrell formed a taskforce under the title Building Hope. The archbishop asked the Building Hope taskforce to assess the needs of the…
Pope calls for ‘covenant’ between humanity and environment Humanity can no longer ignore the cries of the earth that is suffering due to greed and the excessive consumption of its resources, Pope Francis said. In his message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, the Pope said the current climate crisis is a call…
The six Irishmen and two of Irish descent whose cause for beatification has gone to Rome Servant of God Fr James McGinn Priest of the Missionary Society of St Columban. Born: November 15, 1911, Butte, Montana, USA. Died: July 4, 1950, Samcheok, Gangwon, South Korea. Fr James ‘Jim’ McGinn was killed in Korea July 4,…
Seven Irish Columbans in Korea were martyred having stayed with their flock, Ruadhán Jones hears When we think of martyrs, our minds tend to reach far back into history. We think of the persecution of the Church under the Roman Empire, right at the beginnings of our faith. Or perhaps, closer to home, we think…
A Short History of the Church of Ireland by Kenneth Milne (Messenger Publications, €12.95/£11.50) Dr Milne is well known to all those working in the areas of Church history in Ireland. This book at hand is the fifth edition of a book which has already served its purpose well by providing a little manual with…
MASKWACIS, Alberta – the first step of Pope Francis’ “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada involved him returning two pairs of children’s moccasins. The little shoes were not among the Indigenous artifacts held in the Vatican Museums, but rather reminders that Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier of the Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan had left with Pope Francis…
Four men and women were invested as Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem last Saturday, July 23. Cardinal Seán Brady, Grand Prior of the Lieutenancy for Ireland of the Order, led the investiture ceremony in the chapel of St Patrick’s College Maynooth. Fiona Maire Kane, Helena Margaret Sheridan,…
Ben Conroy
Peter Costello
Ruadhán Jones