Sr Fiona Pryle Coming up to the elections, Ireland has a chance to do something radical! Will violence against women be on all the manifestos of the political parties and will they give a commitment to provide proper refuge spaces in each county? We, the voting public can hold our politicians accountable when they appear…
Staff Reporter
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…
Bishop Hayes talks about climate change ahead of COP29
Global leaders have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) since November 11, the event will continue until November 22. Ahead of the conference, Bishop of Kilmore and Laudato Si’ coordinator of the Bishops’ Conference Martin Hayes urged Irish negotiators in Baku “to be, on our behalf, generous of spirit in recognising the…
My words will not pass
The Sunday Gospel Dn 12:1-3 Ps 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 Heb 10:11-14, 18 Mk 13:24-32 Fr Joshua J. Whitfield Jesus is on the “Mount of Olives opposite the temple area” talking about the end of the world (Mk 13:3). That’s significant because according to prophecy it is from the Mount of Olives that the…
From a monk in Murroe to a mosque in Cairo
Justin Robinson OSB So many people walk across the courtyard of Al Azhar mosque in Cairo that its white marble has become highly polished, the floor below reflecting an almost mirror image of the mosque’s architectural wonders that tower above. I’m sitting in the carpeted arcade around the vast courtyard, watching worshippers milling around in…
St Laurence O’Toole: A model of virtue
St Laurence O’Toole, known in Irish as Lorcán Ua Tuathail, born in 1128 at Castledermot, Co. Kildare, Ireland, became renowned as a reformer, peacemaker, and man of deep faith. Laurence’s early life was marked by hardship; at just ten, he was handed over as a hostage to the King of Leinster, a political practice intended…
The sacredness of St Bernadette’s visit
Gerard Bennett Every now and then, you realise that you are part of something historic, quite possibly, a once-in-a-lifetime moment. In that situation, you don’t want to miss anything; you know you want to recall each part of this special time. So it was when the relics of St Bernadette visited the Oblates of Mary…
Priest slain by Nazis to be inducted among ‘Righteous of the World’
A Catholic priest executed by the Nazis in 1944 who’s today a candidate for sainthood will be memorialised in November, along with four other figures, in a “Garden of the Righteous of the World” located on the island of Sicily. Fr Alcide Lazzeri will be honoured in a ceremony on November 29, which will feature…
The voiceless have the loudest say
Despite 54% of Catholic – and 60% of non-Catholic Christians – voting for Donald Trump, according to exit polls, it would be naïve to rely on him to preside as a Christian leader of the world’s most powerful country. However, the voting trends which saw the President-elect win the election with a popular vote surplus…
Pope Francis and the Jubilee Year of Hope
Bishop Niall Coll There is a long tradition in the Church that each new bishop picks a motto, normally chosen from Scripture, which seeks to encapsulate his thoughts, prayers and priorities as he begins his new ministry. When I arrived in Ossory in January of last year, the one I chose was ‘Christ Jesus our…