Pope Francis August 27 created 20 new cardinals, including 16 under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope. It was Francis’s eighth consistory, and whenever we get a new crop of Princes of the Church, several chronic misconceptions tend to head once more unto the breach. Herewith, three conceptual…
Legacy Supplement Without intervention, the poor of northern Somalia will starve, Chai Brady hears Years of bad rains and extended dry periods are causing a major food and livelihood crisis in the Horn of Africa. In some areas aid workers face kidnapping and even murder but they still make sure those who are in need…
Participants will face a packed agenda and heated debate at the upcoming fourth plenary assembly of the Synodal Path reform project on the future of the Catholic Church in Germany. At their meeting September 8-10 in Frankfurt, the approximately 230 delegates will discuss 14 papers, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. These include texts…
A wise old Augustinian priest once shared this in class. There are days in my life when everything from the pressures of my work, to tiredness, to depression, to distraction, to flat-out laziness make it difficult for me to pray. But, no matter what, I always try to pray at least one sincere, focused Our…
Legacy Supplement Sustainable, local solutions for people with disabilities and their families are the key to CBM’s work in a precarious global landscape, writes Jason Osborne Between the ongoing aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the dire impact the war in Ukraine has had food-wise on the most vulnerable around the world, threats continue to…
Clerical changes for Cloyne The clerical changes for Cloyne Diocese, covering northern and eastern parts of Co. Cork, have been announced and will come into effect September 17. Bishop of Cloyne William Crean said that “the 2022 clerical appointments for the Diocese of Cloyne reflect the adjustments that we need to make to ensure the…
Who stole the Papal Stone back in 1854…and why? I recently came on details of what might be called an American Catholic mystery, which I thought I might share with readers. I am always amazed at the enthusiasm with which Irish Catholics, and indeed many American Catholics, embrace American conservatives. I am all for brotherly…
It is a truth universally acknowledged that nobody understands a woman better than another one. That’s why it’s a relief that the Jane Austen-themed Mr Malcolm’s List (PG) is both directed by a woman (Emma Holly Jones) and scripted by one – Suzanne Allain from her own (self-published) novel. Partly filmed in Ireland, it comes…
I write these lines in advance of a class reunion in St Nathy’s College, Ballaghaderreen. It will see former pupils and classmates, who sat the leaving cert in 1981, gather to mark the 40 years that have passed since those June days The intention was to have this gathering in 2021 but, like lots of…
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:1-2). The size of the crowd did not impress Jesus. He could read their minds and intentions. Some…
John L. Allen Jr.
Chai Brady
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone