The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State, by Anna M. Grzymała-Busse (Princeton University Press, €98.00/ £84.00; also in paperback) They read the roots of the European state in a positive way, and as an endorsement, so to speak, of Augustinian City of God. But that is not quite what the author had in…
Revelations of rampant sexual abuse by deceased Jesuit Fr Alfonso Pedrajas have prompted dozens of people in Bolivia to come forward with similar accusations of atrocities in the South American country, where the Catholic Church confronts a reckoning over the criminal acts of paedophile priests. An investigation by Bolivian newspaper Página Siete found more than…
Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell will launch the new website of the Tarsus Scripture School Friday June 16 after those behind it identified that people are “hungry” for better catechesis. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, one of the founders, Sean Goan, said that those who’ve availed of the scriptural school so far haven’t “been…
Elizabeth Poreba ends a poem, No Good Company, with these words: I’ve got no banter, I’m all judgement and edges, an edgy white lady Wondering what to do, what to do next As in Jesus is coming, look busy. At the wedding feast in Cana, Mary tells Jesus, they have no wine, asking him to…
Nicaraguan dictatorship withholds over $500,000 donated to Church A recent investigation by the Nicaraguan newspaper El Confidencial revealed that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has withheld more than half a million dollars that was donated to the Church in Estelí by the US bishops’ humanitarian aid agency Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The independent media reported…
St Anthony of Padua On 13 June, the Church calls to mind one of its Doctors – St Anthony of Padua. This remarkable man, but a very ordinary one, too, in so many ways, is one of the most quickly canonised saints in the Church’s long history, with Pope Gregory IX canonising him less than…
Dear Editor, Are people aware of the extended abortion ‘care’ bill, tabled by Deputy Brid Smith PBP, that has passed its second stage by a narrow majority in the Dáil? If this bill becomes law, it means: Abortion on demand up to 6 months, no anaesthetic of course, as Ms Smith states that since a…
Iver (Liam Carney) has motor neurone disease. He wants to die. Maria (Maureen Beattie) is the carer entrusted with the task of ending his life. As she’s about to do so, a visitor arrives. Leon (Barry Ward) has had a heroin problem in the past. Now recovered, he’s trying to get a music career going.…
The Republic, apparently, has a national well-being strategy. To my shame, I never knew something existed until an email pinged into my inbox on June 9 from the Department of the Taoiseach telling me that later that very day the Government would publish Understanding Life in Ireland: The Well-being Framework 2023. The report provided this…
This week I’m reflecting on themes of reason, artificial intelligence (AI) and journalism – all related for sure. Sunday Morning Live (BBC One, Sunday) is back for its 14th series, and the main discussion for the first episode was the power and intrusiveness of the press, issues highlighted by Prince Harry’s ongoing civil action against…
Peter Costello
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Aubrey Malone
Michael Kelly
Brendan O’Regan