The future of the island of Ireland won’t be secured by merely changing borders or politicians, Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has warned. Drawing comparisons to the Holy Land in Jesus’ time, Bishop McKeown said that “local rulers would not guarantee a wonderful country, if those leaders were not people of wisdom and humility”. “Similarly,…
Silence plays a mysterious and important role in a healthy spirituality, writes Jason Osborne “There’s nothing so much like God in all the world as silence,” 14th Century German mystic and theologian Meister Eckhart is reported as saying. Whether he said it or not, it certainly sums up a certain vein of the Church’s spiritual tradition,…
Sport and religion overlap in that they can teach people values and understanding, writes Gerard Gallagher Sport continues to unite people from different backgrounds. This was evident recently. During December as the World Cup was played during a political storm, it was uplifting to see many sports stars make some small gestures of ritual and…
Faith in film The Christmas and New Year’s period is a great time to sit down as a family and watch a film. But it’s not always easy to agree on what to watch, or to know what is suitable for younger children and what isn’t. So here’s a suggestion, a lovely animated film which…
The mother of UN peacekeeper Seán Rooney who was killed in Lebanon told mourners the family will “strengthen our faith” at his funeral last week. Private Rooney (24), from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, died when his convoy came under attack while travelling to Beirut from their camp in the Golan Heights. Speaking at the funeral, which…
Saint of the week One of the most famous poets in history, Dante, in his masterwork, the Divine Comedy, glimpses a moving scene: the stoning of a young man, who, while dying, asks forgiveness for those casting the stones at him. Dante chose to commemorate the unparalleled charity of the man often held up as…
The patriarchs and heads of Churches of the Holy Land spoke over Christmas of the suffering Jesus and the Holy Family endured in his early life, likening it to the way many people and refugees suffer today. “Similar sorrows and travails continue to afflict the world in our time, whether they be in Ukraine, Armenia,…
There are many Irish Catholics on the path to sainthood who deserve to be known better, writes Fr John Hogan While Ireland has a long list of saints dating from the earliest years of Christianity, since the Church’s process of canonisation was formalised, few Irish have been proposed for glorification. At the moment 93 Irish…
An almost 400-year-old Irish chalice used throughout periods of persecution has been returned, Ruadhán Jones writes There were two Franciscan friaries in Co. Leitrim, one in north Leitrim and the other in south Leitrim. Creevelea friary was set up in the year 1508 beside the village of Dromahair in north Leitrim and Muintir Eolais friary…
Sr Josephine Garrett CSFN New Year’s celebrations can be a mixed experience. On one hand, the holidays have brought us opportunities to be renewed in our relationships with family and friends. On the other hand, secular media can present this sort of ‘new year, new you’ approach that may not really jive with our actual experiences. Catholics must stand…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady