Jesus wasn’t an instant success. He had to endure the triumph of failure. Paul Andrews SJ shows haw we can do the same.
Thomas Norris believes that Christian faith still has a relevant message for today’s culture in the West. Drawing on Newman, Voeglin and Lonergan, he believes that Christian faith should not be presupposed, but proposed afresh in a dialogue of faith and reason.
Fr Ragheed Ganni was martyred in Mosul, Iraq, on 3 June 2007. Many Christians throughout the world are still being persecuted. The Pope asks us to pray for those persecuted that they may have strength and courage in living their faith. Fr Fergus O’Donoghue SJ explains.
Henry Peel OP traces the life of Fr Peter Higgins, a Dominican priest who was martyred in Dublin in 1642, during the days of the penal laws.
Pope John Paul II spoke of the brothers Sts Cyril and Methodius as ideal examples of the true missionary spirit – faithful to the traditions that formed them and yet endeavouring to understand the peoples to whom they were sent. Fr John Murray PP explains.
This series of essays, edited by James Norman, addresses issues relating to pastoral care which affect schools in present-day Ireland.
Two unexpected visitors to Fr Brendan Comerford SJ are what he calls his “unlikely inspiration” for his article about Mary. Like them, she is our “unselfconscious exemplar”.
Paul Couturier was a priest of the Society of St Irenaeus in Lyon, France, whose vision of spiritual ecumenism paved the way for founding of the World Council of Churches in 1947 and the Decree on Ecumenism of the Second vatican Council. John Murray PP tells his story.
Jim Corkery SJ provides some clarification on the inquiry about God’s plan in our lives and why sometimes things just go wrong.
The Irish in the Middle Ages had an intriguing way of expressing devotion to the Child Jesus. And it was more than mere fancy, writes Gilbert Márkus.
Edmond Grace SJ offers a helpful response to a woman who wonders if joining in a ‘healing circle’ to help her deal with depression is compatible with her Catholic faith.
In a thoughtful and provocative new book, Fr D. Vincent Twomey SVD assesses Irish Catholicism in past centuries and in our own time.
From the Veritas ‘Into the Classroom’ series: Philip Barnes provides a thorough introduction to the tenets and beliefs of all the major world religions. This series, edited by Eoin G. Cassidy and Patrick M. Devitt, is designed for teachers of the new Leaving Cert religious education syllabus.
Sean O’Conaill argues that we’re wrong to suppose that psychic buoyancy and emotional autonomy are the norm in mental health. We are relational, not autonomous, beings; and it is in the context of relationships, friendship, and love that emotional health is best considered.
Sister Wendy Beckett writes about her visit to Rome to see five ancient icons of Our Lady which pre-date the iconoclasm of the 8th century.
We pray out of need, says Dermot Mansfield SJ; for our own needs, for those we know, for situations we know that need healing. TS Eliot said the world is like a huge hospital. We are needy people, requiring God’s blessing and healing always.
Pope Benedict XVI chose the theme of love as the subject of his first encyclical. In response the Pontifical Council Cor Unum organised the “World Conference on Charity” held at the Vatican from January 23-24, 2006. This is a transcript of the presentations that were made on that occasion as [...]
Peter McVerry SJ outlines the basic principles of social justice – upholding the dignity of every human person especially where the structures of society impinge in a way that the person’s dignity and rights can not be exercised.
John R Walsh and Thomas Bradley provide an excellent summary history of that most formative period of Irish history, the three centuries of Christianity after the arrival of St Patrick.
What do we know of Jesus’ family life? What is to be said of those the Gospels call ‘his brothers and sisters’? Could he have not been married? Did he join the clergy? How did he come in conflict with the priests? James Mc Polin SJ tries answer these questions.
Reluctant to go to church as a youth, Billy Graham had the prototypical “born-again” experience as a teenager and by eighteen felt called to be a full-time evangeliser. He has had some Catholic evangelisers as his friends – Bishop Fulton Sheen and Pope John Paul II. John Murray tell his [...]
An original and stimulating examination by Hugh Rayment-Pickard of the theology of time and history drawing from art, literature, philosophy, theology and everyday life.
Dr Eileen Kane was formerly a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History of Art in University College Dublin. She has published extensively on French, Italian and Irish art both in Ireland and abroad. Her most recent publication is The Church of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome, (Rome 2005), [...]
This is a selection of essays on some central moral concerns of modern life – how to approach moral judgements, what is the meaning of natural law and the role of faith in personal decision making.
Rev Francis Selman offers a fresh insight into many of the features of St Thomas Aquinas’s work with sections on God, the human being and moral life, as well as the means of salvation by Christ, the emotions, the resurrection, and our being drawn to God not only by our [...]
Addressing primarily those called to exercise leadership in voluntary or non-governmental agencies and in religious organisations of all kinds, Donal Dorr SPS shows they can provide a model of leadership that is both humane and effective.
Sr Helen Prejean has campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of the death penalty. She talks to Seán Murphy about the wrongful execution of innocents in the US.
Did Our Lady spend her last days in a small mountainside house overlooking Ephesus? Donald Carroll looks at the background to a great archaeological find near Kushadasi on the Aegean coast of Turkey.
The Ferns Report was a moment of epiphany, Seán Ó Conaill argues. Judge Murphy has put in place a new accountability that a smug clerical church could not achieve. He sees it as the beginning of a new partnership between secularism and Christianity.
Colmán Etchingham looks at the history of Graiguenamanagh Abbey and the 12th century reform movement which brought the Cistercians from Wiltshire to the valley of the River Barrow
