It was a summer’s day in Mayo, and the heavens were weeping, when I first heard the story of John’s conversion. He had been raised in a family who lived without faith, a family with a father who drank too much. John grew up hating his father, but like him, developed a thirst for that…
Wandering down a shopping aisle in Belfast this week, the signs of the times were on display: pumpkins and skulls of Halloween on the right and left, and, straight ahead, the frosted glitter of Christmas baubles, with everything but the crib! Halloween, which marks the eve of All Saints, is upon us, but too often…
Standing on a street corner after Sunday Mass the other day, I was assailed by fury. I had joined a silent pro-life protest, organised by the Canadian parish I was visiting, and was carrying a placard that read: “Abortion kills children.” A young woman, who had stopped at the traffic lights, rolled down her window,…
About four years ago, I received a telephone call from a priest who invited a friend and I to a meeting. The priest didn’t actually say what the meeting was about – he just wondered if we might be interested in learning about his mission. We travelled to the Donegal border, and the priest introduced…
I once knew a hairdresser called Anthony or AJ, a Belfast man, who lived with his male partner, and made a point of watching The Song of Bernadette, an old black and white starring Jennifer Jones, at least once a year. He had seen it dozens of times. I met him when I was living…
“Has the Pope ever read the Bible?” This was a serious question from a serious person on social media this week. It follows yet another controversy about remarks made by Pope Francis, this time during a visit to Indonesia, when he spoke about faith to an inter-religious meeting of young people in Singapore. To critics,…
A few years ago, I was introduced to an American priest in Dublin. When I heard he was from Pennsylvania, the words were swiftly out of my mouth: “Oh boy, you guys have some real problems there right now”. I was referring to a massive sex abuse scandal. But when I saw the pained look on…
Turning to the past with dread, I forced myself to watch Stolen, a new RTÉ documentary billed as the inside story of the Mother and Baby homes. It was not only the wounded past I dreaded to look at, but a documentary which I (rightly) guessed would approach this tragic subject, with its own provocative…
There is a phrase that seems to send a ripple of fear through many Mass-goers these days. And it’s nothing to do with eternal punishment! Though Catholics of course should fear hell, it’s rarely mentioned. No, what appears to frighten the congregation these days is when a bishop or priest declares, after the consecration: “You…
A Dubliner, who liked a jar, was courting a Belfast woman in the eighties and was delighted when she invited him and his friends to Clonard. It was Sunday, and having enjoyed themselves the night before, they rushed to get ready – only to find that Clonard was not a local pub, but a monastery.…