This week I had an opportunity to see the film Fatima, directed by Marco Pontecorvo who said he believes it to be a “subject that can talk to everyone, not only Catholics. It has a meaning, a very powerful meaning, for everyone, not only for believers.” The story centers around three Portuguese children, Lucia dos… Read More
Category: Announcements
In the World’s Spotlight: Pope Francis
On New Year’s Eve, 2019 Pope Francis made headlines news when he slapped the hand of a woman as he greeted pilgrims at the Vatican. Francis’ patience snapped when the woman suddenly snatched at his hand and yanked him towards her as he reached out to greet a child during a visit to the… Read More
Open Doors: Reopening of the Church
It is certain that most people of faith are law-abiding, consequently in Ireland, there has been Church compliance with the Government’s severe regulations against public worship, even though all across Europe and indeed Britain, churches have opened much earlier for prayer and services. Throughout the long, long days of Lockdown, during the worst of… Read More
The Pope’s Historic Visit to Iraq
When Pope Francis returned to the Vatican last Monday after his four-day trip to Iraq he was fulfilling a dream of his predecessor, Pope St John Paul II who had hoped to travel to Iraq at the end of 1999. This trip never took place because Saddam Hussein decided to postpone it after… Read More
Dublin Welcomes a New Archbishop
This week not only saw the start of a new month but also the installation of a new Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Dermot Farrell. A former president of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, he had been parish priest at Dunboyne, Co Meath until his appointment as Bishop of Ossory in January 2018. The eldest of seven… Read More
Living with Hope
Living With Hope For the first time this week, the news in relation to Covid-19 was positive as it seems the possibility of a vaccine is now looking likely and there was a cautious optimism expressed by interviewees on the radio. This, allied with the victory of Joe Biden in America proved the truth of… Read More
The Guardian Angels
One of the most appealing images remembered from religious instruction in childhood was that of the guardian angels protecting us all from danger, both physical and moral. Just as parents sometimes entrust the younger members of the family to the care of their elder brothers and sisters, so our Father in Heaven commits us to… Read More
Mary’s Dowry and Our Lady of Walsingham
England is a country that is firmly associated with the Protestant religion because it was its King, Henry VIII who broke from Rome when the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. It was Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I whose compromise between Protestantism and Catholicism resulted in Anglicanism, a hybrid of… Read More
Remembering New York’s Saddest Day
Sometimes, when I am watching a film or TV series based in New York, I am saddened when the Twin Towers appear in the background. Not only does it date the program as pre-2001, but it is also a reminder of a time when what happened on 11 September nineteen years ago, was unimaginable. On… Read More
London Bombings Remembered
Tuesday of last week marked the fifteenth anniversary of the London bombings, an atrocity that claimed the lives of 52 people and injured more than 700 others. I well remember the event and seeing on the news the image of the mangled number 30 bus in Tavistock Square, which became the symbol of that terrible… Read More
Love Thy Neighbour?
Within the last two weeks the usual headlines regarding Covid-19 have been replaced by another huge news item; sadly not a good one. What should have been a minor incident in Minnesota turned into a world news story, leading to scenes of mass protests and demonstrations across the United States. On May 26, George Floyd… Read More
Respecting Our Elders?
This week saw the lifting of the government’s restrictive ban on people aged over seventy. There has been a lot of talk about it in the media, and it was greeted with delight by those in this age bracket. I listened to an interview with former government minister, Mary O’Rourke, speaking about how excited she… Read More
Now more than ever, great leaders are needed
What do great leaders do? They inspire confidence and trust; they are not afraid to flout the rules and conventions of the time. Nor are they afraid to fight, even to the point of laying down their life. They empower their listeners to believe that they can overcome all the odds stacked against them. When… Read More
We are an Easter People
This week we are preparing for Easter Sunday, the highest point in the Liturgical Calendar of the Church. This is the culmination of the Lenten journey and the day that makes sense of all that went before, some of it dark and terrible. In the Exsultet we are told ‘This is the night that expels… Read More
Staying in the Moment: Pray and Meditate
On Tuesday of this week, Pope Francis asked if everyone in every country, regardless of their religious faith or otherwise, would pause and come together at eight o’clock, to meditate and pray for the health of the world. Two things struck me about this call from the Pontiff: the need for prayer, especially when we… Read More
Living in Troubled Times: Coronavirus
As I write this our country, and indeed the rest of the world, is experiencing a set of circumstances, the like of which has not been seen since World War II. Some of those among us, who are old enough to remember those years, have said that the limitations we are undergoing now are actually… Read More