Reflections on the importance of spending quality time with children and on the risks that young people face today, by Patrick Joyce.
John Michael Talbot, the best-selling Catholic musician, came to Ireland in Advent 2003.
Sister Blandina Ryan MMM found a whole new challenge in her ministry when she was asked to “help Elizabeth”.
Sister Carla Simmons writes about bringing home care to families living with AIDS in Uganda. She is a sister-doctor of the Medical Missionaries of Mary. This article first appeared in Healing and Development, a publication of the Medical Missionaries of Mary.
Jean Elliot looks back with great joy on her many years of parenting.
Cardinal Seán Brady commends CatholicIreland.net as a method of proclaiming the Gospel.
If we are to share the earth’s resources with everyone, we must accept a reduction in our standard of living, writes Peter McVerry, SJ
Fr. Seán McDonagh draws attention to the failure of the developed world to care for God’s creation.
I want my baby baptised but I’m not married, will the priest make a fuss about this?
I’m worried that our non-church-going guests might not feel at home?
How much does a baptism cost?
My mother says babies who die before being baptised go to limbo. What does this mean?
Isn’t it best to let children make up their own mind about religious things when they are old enough rather than baptise babies?
How do I go about arranging a baptism?
The priest wants us to have the baptism during Sunday Mass, but we think just have the family and friends around on Sunday afternoon would be better.
Do the Godparents need to be Catholics?
How soon after birth should my child be baptised?
Cardinal François Nguyen Van Thuan died from cancer in September, 2002. In 1975 he was named coadjutor archbishop of Ho Chi Min (Saigon). Just three months later he was imprisoned by the communist government. He spent thirteen years in prisons of the regime, nine of them in solitary confinement. In his [...]
Advertising, politics, entertainment: are we losing our grip on reality?
Sr Stanislaus Kennedy on why now more than ever, in the aftermath of clerical sex abuse scandals, the Church must be the advocate of children.
During a wake it may happen that family members would like to have a structured time of prayer beside the deceased. Sometimes, however, they find it difficult because they can’t find the words or because no-one feels comfortable taking the lead. In these circumstances, the rosary – even a single [...]
This is the Year of the Rosary, and October is the Month of the Rosary. Last October, Pope John Paul II announced five new mysteries, to be added to the traditional fifteen mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious. Called the ‘Mysteries of Light’, the new mysteries focus on Jesus’ years in [...]
For most parents, the sudden and unexpected loss of a child through miscarriage is an emotional as well as a spiritual crisis. M. Fran Rybarik describes the unique sense of loss parents experience and suggests ways in which family and friends can support them in their grief.
Fr Morgan Costelloe finds a source of hope as he reflects on bereavement and grief.
There are strong links that bind us to others who are part of the vast community of the living and the dead, writes Fr Lawrence Cunnignham.
Brian Grogan, S.J. finds God busy behind the scenes as the haphazard events of each day unfold.
On 24 March 1980, Archbishop Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass. He was the most high-profile victim of El Salvador’s civil war between powerful landowners and the dispossessed. This tribute is by Haydee Rodriguez, who moved to the US from Guatemala in her early teens. While studying philosophy at Loyola [...]
Fr Pedro Arrupe on devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Mass attendance in Ireland is continuing to fall. Desmond O’Donnell, OMI, argues that counting heads at Mass is not the most important thing.
In a thoughtful and provocative new book, Fr D. Vincent Twomey SVD assesses Irish Catholicism in past centuries and in our own time.
