Posted on 12. Sep, 2019 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Vocation
Youth 2000 is a Catholic youth organisation that organises lively faith festivals, retreats, prayer groups and other events for young people aged 16-35 across the island of Ireland. Peter Sands, a Youth 2000 leader and secondary school teacher, spoke with Conor Deane from his office in Maynooth about the new year ahead and the […]
Posted on 05. Sep, 2019 in Christian Values, Gospel Values, Humane Vitae, Schools
John Bruton, who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, was one of the youngest every members of the Dáil – elected at only 22. Educated in Clongowes Wood College, he says that his education there gave him a good formation in his Catholic Faith, and that his time in politics thought him about compromise and […]
Posted on 05. Sep, 2019 in Baptism, Christian Values
Richard Leonard, an Australian Jesuit and best selling author has recently written a booked title, “Hatch, Match and Dispatch” looking at the history of Catholic sacraments. Approaching them in an accessible and engaging way, he examines the liturgy, ritual and theology behind them. He uses anecdotes from his own life to make the book come […]
Posted on 29. Aug, 2019 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Faith and Justice, Gospel Values, Liturgy, Music
Continuing with our pieces from the archive, we hear about Radio Maria, a Christian Radio station that aims to help communicate God’s divine love and Mercy, which was launched in Ireland on Thursday Feb 11th. Fr. Michael Ross SDB, a Salesian Priest, is director of Radio Maria Ireland. He talks with Conor Deane before the […]
Posted on 01. Aug, 2019 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Gospel Values, Liturgy
Steve Bannon, the architect behind Trump’s rise to power, is set to take aim at the Pope. Unhappy with the Pope on several positions, in particular anything that looks supportive of immigrants or any kind of socialism, he wants to train people to fight Pope Francis’ ideology. This new training ground will actually be in […]
Posted on 01. Aug, 2019 in Christian Values, Church Teachings, Community, Discrimination, Family
Despite generations of poverty and prejudice from both the government and ordinary Irish citizens, the faith of the itinerant Irish Traveller community today is strong, say local parish priest, Fr. Paul O’Driscoll. There are about 40,000 Travellers in Ireland, about 0.7 percent of the population. Fr Paul O’Driscoll is their parish priest and says the […]
Posted on 25. Jul, 2019 in Achievement, Art, Christian Values, Community, Saints
Dony MacManus, well-known Irish sculptor was commissioned to create a dramatic bronze statue of St Oliver Plunkett in the final moments of his earthly life. It was unveiled on July 9th, the 350th anniversary of St Oliver’s appointment as Archbishop of Armagh. In this interview with Conor Deane, Dony talks about the process of commissioning […]
Posted on 25. Jul, 2019 in Addiction, Christian Values, Community, Sexuality, Young people
The recent case of the murder of Ana Kriegel, shocked the country. One of the boys who was convicted of the crime was also found to have had thousands of images of pornography on his phone, some of which were violent. It raised questions around how much porn young people are seeing and whether it’s […]
Posted on 25. Jul, 2019 in Christian Values, Community, Health, Vocation
Trying to believe that there is something positive in everything, is one of the central messages of Brendan McManus’ book, “Finding God in the Mess”. Co-authored with Jim Deeds, he looks at how difficult situations can leave us struggling and feeling abandoned, but that taking time out to look back and understand life’s events can […]
Posted on 17. Jul, 2019 in Christian Values, Community, Faith and Justice, Feminism/Women in the Church, Vocation
Rev Ása Bjork Olafsdottir talks to Conor Deane about the origins of her calling in her rectory in Dún Laoghaire, where she lives now with her family. Ása is from Iceland and has been in Ireland for many years. She loves her work and her parishioners but in particular she describes how she felt she had […]