Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Catholic woman who escaped death for alleged blasphemy and who now lives in Canada, has appealed for the protection of victims of blasphemy laws in her home country. She also said her family is struggling in Canada, because the government only supported them for one year, reported ucanews.com. In her first…
Month: December 2022
A charming and moral tale of true love
Faith in Film Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo star in the subtle rom-com Just Like Heaven. Last week, I wrote about how great art can turn our eyes to God to appreciate his beauty. But not everything has to be deep and serious to warrant our attention. Light, sincere films can be just as effective,…
100 homes for Cabra thanks to ‘generous’ Dominican Sisters
A “generous” donation of land by the Dominican Sisters, Cabra, will be developed by Focus Housing to deliver 95 public homes in the North Dublin community. The development wouldn’t have been possible without the “considerable” size of the order’s donation, over 7,300 meters squared of public space for community use just off Rathoat Road. The…
Deep down most people feel a strong pull towards the message of Bethlehem
The View It’s become a recurring theme, as inevitable now as the manufactured row about the Angelus on the radio or a Crucifix being displayed in a hospital. Every year, along with the resurrection of the dreary fuss about Christmas songs, we are subjected to an annual dose of whinging about ditching the word Christmas because…
Irish College artist has ministry restricted
Staff Reporter A prominent Jesuit priest-artist who completed the iconic mosaics at Rome’s Irish College has had his ministry restricted, reportedly after an investigation by his religious order into allegations of abuse against religious sisters in Slovenia. The Jesuits said in a statement this week that the order has barred 68-year-old Fr Marko Ivan Rupnik,…
Suicide continues to be a major killer in North
On the cusp of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the number of people taking their own life is on the rise, writes Michael Kelly It’s a startling and sobering fact that since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, more people in the North have died at…
The Mother of God: Queen of saints
Saint of the Week It wouldn’t have been proper to focus on anyone else this week other than Mary, the Mother of God. The Church celebrates on December 8 the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, which is such a momentous occasion that it’s a holy day of obligation – meaning that Catholics must attend Mass…
More clergy accused of child sexual abuse in California as deadline nears
As California’s three-year window to file child sex abuse lawsuits past the statute of limitations nears its conclusion, 66 Catholic clergy and religious have been named in 116 lawsuits in Alameda County, which covers the area between San Francisco and San Jose. Additionally, 14 of the clergy members and religious identified in the lawsuits are…
In Brief
German Synodal Way designed to create ‘pressure’ The German Synodal Way was designed from the outset to avoid legal sanctions while simultaneously creating “pressure” on the Church to change Catholic teaching, one of the founders of the process told German media Friday. Thomas Sternberg, former president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), said…
Newly independent Ireland needed the Catholic Church
Criticisms of the over-dominance of the Church are valid, but they are also simplistic, writes David Quinn What was to become the Irish Republic marked its 100th birthday on Tuesday, but it has not been marked by big celebrations and perhaps that is partly because it wasn’t at the time either. The nascent Free State…