Month: November 2024

‘Our priests are constantly burying young people who die for want of a reason for living’ – Bishop of Derry

Exclusive   There is a “crisis” among young people who “we are losing to self-harm, through addiction and reckless actions”, the Bishop of Derry has warned. Bishop Donal McKeown told The Irish Catholic that “our priests are constantly burying young people who die for want of a reason for living”, while also saying the Church…

Tributes paid to Gabriel Doherty

Historian and broadcaster Gabriel Doherty died at the age of 56 last Friday, November 8. Mr Doherty was a lecturer at the University College Cork School of History and a widely published historian, he edited two books and contributed to many articles and historical journals. Mary E. Fitzgibbon, a spokesperson for Ireland Stand Up, a…

The end of an Era: New monastic community born

The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) also known as ‘Trappists’, on a historic move, has found a new community merging three established ones. The three communities are Mount Melleray Abbey from the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore, Mount St Joseph Abbey, Roscrea from the Diocese of Killaloe and Mellifont Abbey from the…

The new evangelisation

An Irish stonemason, with little education, became one of the great evangelists of the last century. And his story is now entwined with the famous American bishop Robert Barron, himself the son of Irish emigrants, whose Word on Fire network has gone global. I heard the story at St Comgall’s School on the Falls Road…

Passing the faith on in Co. Cavan

The community of Kingscourt Parish, Co. Cavan celebrated on November 7 the launch of a new edition of Pass it On, a book of prayers, inspirational poems, quotes and motivational words of encouragement to be ‘passed on’ from one generation to the next. The first edition was published in 2012 as an initiative of the…

A sad student story

A very sad story emerged this past week about an Oxford student who killed himself: a story which revealed much about our times and values. Alexander Rogers was 20 years old and a third-year student at Corpus Christi college, studying science, and predicted to get a First.  He was described at an inquest as “kind,…