Looking forward to the Jubilee of Hope in 2025, Bishop Niall Coll of Ossory diocese says he thinks “It has a wonderful message that needs to be shared in the context of an Irish society which is presenting as increasingly materialistic, secular and anxious.” Bishop Coll added: ‘Many people seem to find life meaningless and…
The Papal Nuncio and the Bishop of Derry visited Omagh, Co. Tyrone to join the faithful who flocked to Sacred Heart Church to celebrate both its 125th year anniversary and the 260th anniversary of St Mary’s Church, Drumragh. Drumragh parish welcomed the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, and Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry to…
Scott P. Richert My family never watched It’s a Wonderful Life when I was growing up. I saw it for the first time when I was around 30 years old, at a special Christmas. I found myself in tears at the end, and not because I had been emotionally manipulated. The film is a near-perfect…
Being highly exposed to the media as I am, in the line of duty of course, there are so many highs and lows – material that is depressingly grim or uplifting and inspiring. I thought it would be good to start on a positive note. In broad strokes, there have been engaging documentaries, well-crafted and…
One Green Party politician described their recent election experience as being spat out by the Irish people. It is somewhat ironic that while there is general agreement that climate change is the great issue of our generation, the one political party dedicated to highlighting the problem and coming up with solutions is the one that…
If you have ever visited Rome, you’ll know around almost every corner is a Church or ruin with some significant story to tell. San Clamente, which lies just some hundred meters from the Colosseum and has been under the care of the Irish Dominicans for the past 350 years is not just ‘another’ Church with…
“He started to draw himself as a ‘saint’. He was seeing himself in a different world,” hears Renata Milán Morales. A short documentary was premiered at the end of this year, In God’s Hands. Originally from Roscommon, Niall Sheerin, director of the film explains to The Irish Catholic the meaning of it. In God’s Hands…
I love the time after Christmas Day. The preparations that take up most of December are over. It’s a time to relax with family and a good book or six. The quieter days of the Christmas season lend themselves to reflection. For our family, it has been a momentous year. In August, our elder daughter,…
The season of Advent has been a time of preparation for the great Feast of Christmas. The feeling of anticipation built as we got ever closer, week by week. The candles on the Advent wreath got lit, one by one. Their glow became ever brighter. What was it that we anticipated? The celebration of the…
Irish Paris: Stories of famous and infamous Irish people in Paris through the centuries by Isadore Ryan (€19.00; reach irishmeninparis.org for details of purchase) This is an interesting and entertaining book by a Paris based Irish economic journalist with a passion for the past. He is the author of two previous books, No Way…
Renata Steffens
Chai Brady
Brendan O’Regan
Breda O'Brien
Peter Costello