Most Irish Catholics feel woefully ill-equipped to share their faith, but the desire they have to do so is heartening writes Michael Kelly “Our spiritual growth is stunted. As adult members of the Church, we are not sufficiently grounded in our faith, and do not have the confidence in speaking about our love of God,”…
World renowned Irish-Sierra Leonean musician Loah has opened up about how Christ’s love helps her cope with pressures of publicity. The singer-songwriter was raised Catholic but fell away, telling The Sunday Independent that she realised she couldn’t go through life without a raft, and turned back to Christ. “It was a really physical, embodied, deep…
A vile act has prompted almost no debate at all about radical Islam and its threat to the values of the West, writes David Quinn Almost all societies have a concept of ‘blasphemy’, which broadly speaking means to mock the most deeply held beliefs and values of a society. Historically speaking, those beliefs and values…
A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children. Several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors of the Martyr Abu Sefein church to try to escape the intense flames, witnesses said.…
The mother of 2020 Late Late Toy Show star Saoírse Ruane who was diagnosed twice with life-threatening tumours, said she feels a strong connection to Padre Pio after praying to him before her daughter’s major surgery. Roseanna Ruane spoke of hearing Saoírse’s diagnosis of Osteosarcoma and subsequent treatments more than two years ago, and then…
Despite Ireland rising in the human trafficking watchlist, we have a lot to do, Ruadhán Jones hears This year, for the first time since 2017, Ireland has risen in the annual Trafficking in Persons report’s ranking, from Tier 2 Watchlist to Tier 2. And yet, the report, conducted by the State Department in the US,…
Staff reporter The bishops of Ireland welcomed Tuesday the publication of the National Synthesis of the Synodal Process on www.synod.ie, while inviting “the whole people of God in this country to study its findings carefully and prayerfully”. The National Synthesis has been forwarded to Rome as part of the worldwide synodal process launched by Pope Francis…
Cardinal Joseph Zen is set to stand trial next month, along with four other people, in connection to his role as a trustee of a pro-democracy legal fund. It appears he has not been indicted under Hong Kong’s national security law, which would have carried with it much more serious penalties. Cardinal Zen, 90, is…
Dr Karen Ward shares tips to help ease the ageing process in her chapter on physicality from her new book, The Secret of Ageless Ageing I wondered about a milestone that would herald crossing the line between being middle-aged and becoming an older woman. For me, it was wearing reading glasses in public for the…
The characters of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul inhabit a universe that Catholics will already be familiar with, writes Jason Osborne My wife and I have been hooked in recent months by legal drama and crime series Better Call Saul as we raced to catch up in time for its ending this week. Just…
Michael Kelly
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
Chai Brady