Over 600 Rathmines parishioners celebrated the parish’s 200th anniversary on Saturday, September 17, with a Mass and reception in the Church of Mary Immaculate Refuge of Sinners. Fr Andrew O’Sullivan, parish priest in Dublin, celebrated the anniversary Mass, which the parish spent months preparing for. A number of museum and reliquary displays, including one exhibiting…
Month: September 2023
On recent abuse scandals, Vatican talk is both too much and too little
Chris Altieri “This business will get out of control,” intoned the inimitable Fred Thompson as Rear Admiral Joshua Painter in the film adaptation of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October, after an F-14 had crashed on the deck of his aircraft carrier that was also carrying CIA analyst Jack Ryan, hero of that story and…
Are ‘little white lies’ okay to tell?
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: Is it always wrong in every case to lie? What about the so-called ‘little white lie?’ I’m thinking of situations where you tell a person something you know is false to spare their feelings, when they’re likely never going to know the truth anyway. A: Our Catholic Faith teaches us that…
Presidential candidate makes Pope Francis a campaign issue in Argentina
Lucian Chauvin BUENOS AIRES – Pope Francis may be nearly 7,000 miles from Argentina, his native land, but it certainly does not feel that way as the country gears up for a presidential election on October 22. While the Pope has strived to stay on the sidelines of political debates in Argentina, deciding against visiting…
O’Casey’s Dublin trilogy: the Druid production of his three plays set in the Irish revolution
Sean O’Casey’s Dublin trilogy – The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926) – was the first effort at demythologising the Irish revolution in the public sphere. As Conor Cruise O’Brien wrote, these plays “are not revolutionary, and are even counter-revolutionary in their implications and…
Surrendering to love
Perhaps all of Jesus’ invitations to us can be summarised in one word, surrender. We need to surrender to love. But why is that difficult? Shouldn’t it be the most natural thing in the world? Isn’t our deepest desire a longing to find love and surrender to it? True, our deepest longing is to surrender…
Relics of ‘model for the young’ Blessed Carlo Acutis visit Knock
The relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, described by Pope Francis as a “model for the young”, drew thousands to Knock Shrine for Mass and veneration. Principal celebrant at Mass was the bishop of Blessed Acutis’ hometown of Assisi, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, who along with Msgr Anthony Figueiredo accompanied the young man’s relics on a tour…
Woman arrested for silent prayer at UK abortion clinics gets police apology
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the woman twice arrested for silent prayer outside UK abortion clinics, has received a police apology and confirmation that she will not face charges for violating a local ‘buffer zone’ protection order. Though Ms Vaughan-Spruce said she would return to the clinic to pray, she warned that her treatment has implications for the…
Pope’s call for harmony in Mongolia resounds deeply
Dear Editor, The recent visit of Pope Francis to Mongolia is a momentous occasion that holds profound significance for Catholics and the world at large. In a time when the global community faces various challenges and divisions, the Pope’s visit to Mongolia sends a powerful message of unity, peace, and dialogue. Mongolia, a predominantly Buddhist…
It isn’t too late to change for the better
Deacon Greg Kandra Ez 18:25-28 Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Phil 2:1-11 Phil 2:1-5 (alternate) Mt 21:28-32 This Sunday’s Gospel offers us an idea a lot of us need to hear: “It’s not too late. Any of us, if we choose, can follow another path.” Telling the story of two sons who made two different…