Garry O’ Sullivan When it comes to the Irish Church, everyone can diagnose the problems but few, if any, have outlined a sound path to a cure — it is the fog of our times, everybody knows what should have been done in the past but there is little vision for the future.…
Ten years on the Church has still not addressed the credibility gap left by the scandals, writes Phil Lawler Ten years have passed since the Boston archdiocese was engulfed in scandal, as the result of investigative reporting by the Boston Globe. Today, the faithful in Boston are still struggling to shake off the…
Religion is moving centre-stage in the US presidential election, writes Kieron Wood The victory of Mormon Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus last week has once more highlighted the importance of religion in US presidential elections. In the 2012 Iowa caucus of January 3, Romney took only 25 per cent of the vote,…
Two years after Haiti’s earthquake, Trócaire continues its work there, writes Eoghan Rice In the labyrinth of narrow laneways that cut through Villa Rosa, Saul Darbouze leads us to the place he calls home. The path changes from concrete to mud as we enter further into this tangled web of side-streets and alleyways.…
Family Activities Annie O’Connell Your family may be coming back to earth with a bang after the excitement of Christmas. If the children are feeling a bit under the weather after the holidays, we can help them to express and accept their emotions. We can explain how we all need to get more sleep,…
Health Matters Dr Andrea Fitzgerald Depression is a common illness, affecting more than one in 10 people in Ireland at any one time. Nearly 20 per cent of us will suffer from depression at some point in our lives. Depression is so common globally that the World Health Organisation has predicted that by 2020…
In a rediscovered letter, a dying mother says goodbye to her young daughter ‘When we bought two (copy) books for your homework so that you had the opportunity to use the one ”like all the others” I made up my mind to write a long, long letter to you in the one you didn’t…
Denis Buckley describes some of the work of Humanitarian Volunteers in Kenya Have you ever considered volunteering for a short period in Africa? The support of volunteers from Ireland has now become crucial to the survival of many small projects. The collapse of the Celtic Tiger and the global credit crunch has had…
Family Activities Anne O’Connell Make an agreement with your child to do something special that will help make this year a good one. Write out your intention, put it in an envelope and keep it in a safe place — remind yourselves about it every now and then. A good new year’s goal for…
Health Matters Dr Andrea Fitzgerald Happy new year! I hope that, after the inevitable excesses of Christmas, your new year’s resolutions include some plans to optimise your health and fitness this year. Research has consistently shown that physical fitness is vitally important to health. Indeed, it may be healthier to be overweight and fit…