Former President appointed as Canon

Posted on 28. Sep, 2017 in Achievement, Feminism/Women in the Church

On Sunday 1st October, for the first time, Christ Church Cathedral will admit honorary Ecumenical and Lay Canons to its Chapter. Former president of Ireland Mary McAleese and Professor James Lucey, Medical Director of Services and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin have been appointed as the first ever honorary lay ecumenical canons […]

Citizens assembly

Posted on 28. Sep, 2017 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Ecology, Economy, Faith and Justice

The recent hurricanes in the Atlantic have brought the realities of climate change into focus. If we fail to address the issue, there will be ever increasing turbulent weather. This weekend the Citizens’ Assembly will convene in Dublin to look at climate change. The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ) has made a submission […]

Sustainable Development Goals

Posted on 28. Sep, 2017 in Uncategorized

Monday 25th September marked the second anniversary of the historic signing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provide a universal framework, with 17 goals and 169 targets, aimed at fundamentally changing the way all countries work towards ending extreme poverty, hunger and tackling climate change. Suzanne Keatinge, CEO of Dóchas […]

Facing Climate Change

Posted on 21. Sep, 2017 in Christian Values, Ecology, Faith and Justice

The Caribbean Island have recently been hit by storms of unprecedented strength. Irish priest and well-known eco-theologian, Fr Sean McDonagh SSC, says that we can no longer afford to be complacent. These storms and worse will continue to hit until we take climate change seriously. Pointing out that Ireland has the carbon emissions of four hundred of […]

A Priest’s Life

Posted on 21. Sep, 2017 in Celibacy/Sexuality, Christian Values, Church Teachings, Sexuality, Vocation

Thirty-Three Good Men looks at the lives of thirty-three Irish Catholic diocesan priests and former priests during a period of significant change in the Irish Church, 1960–2010. The book explores the lived reality of Irish diocesan priests and how they experience celibacy and obedience in modern Ireland. It also looks at how they understand their […]

Responding to Hurricane Irma

Posted on 14. Sep, 2017 in Church of Ireland, Climate Change, Ecology, Environment, Natural Disasters

Rector Eileen Cremin, Church of Ireland minister in Fermoy, talks about her family who are living in Antigua and the aftermath of hurricane Irma which devastated thousands of islands across the Carribean. She talks about how the neighbouring island Barbuda was completed destroyed, but how Antigua managed to escape the worst of it. When Hurricane […]

Festal Shout of Victory

Posted on 14. Sep, 2017 in Christian Values, Community

Giving praise and appreciation to God is central to Biblical spirituality. One particular form of  praise known as the teruah Yahweh, the festal shout of victory. It played an important part in the wars fought by the Jewish people in the Old Testament. It was a blood curdling war cry which “was simultaneously uttered by God and the […]

Justice for All

Posted on 14. Sep, 2017 in Community, Economy

Eamon Murphy, economic and social analyst at Social Justice Ireland said: “most recent data on minimum wage employment shows that about 10% of employees are working for the minimum wage or less.” However the minimum wage rate is still 20% below the living wage. He said that evidence shows people need €11.70 an hour in […]

Encountering Jesus

Posted on 07. Sep, 2017 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Relationships

Fr Pat Collins’ new book, “Encountering Jesus” draws on his own experience of working with New Evangelisation. A proud Vincentian, he says that there is tremendous energy out there for a new form of Christianity – one that will be more like the early Christian Communities. He says New Evangelisation is aimed a communities in […]

Supporting the Pope

Posted on 07. Sep, 2017 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Vocation

In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications, Gerry Whelan SJ, professor of fundamental theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, talks about writing his new book on Pope Francis. He explains that soon after Pope Francis’ election, there were concerns that his teachings and methods would be condemned by theologian from more […]