The Pope stated that the cost of nuclear weapons should be measured not only in the lives destroyed through their use, but also the suffering of the poorest and most vulnerable people, who could have benefited were such vast sums of public money invested in the common good of society instead.
In his address for National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration Michael D. Higgins said, "Let us not forget that so little time separates us from the evil that was the Holocaust. This is not an event from the distant past.”
In his Christmas homily, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says Christmas is a moment when our faith emerges, even if we have drifted away from regular practice of that faith.
“I wish each and every one of you a peaceful and happy Christmas and a new year of hope and possibility,” says President Michael D. Higgins.
Climate change is the most pressing issue facing us all as a global community – President Michael D Higgins at the Cork Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice.
At the funeral Mass in Dublin's Pro Cathedral, the principal celebrant, Fr Leonard Maloney SJ revealed that the much-loved broadcaster was often seen at weekday or Sunday Mass even in the latter stages of his cancer.
Archbishop Eamon Martin described Gay Byrne as a gifted and groundbreaking broadcaster who will be remembered and quoted for generations.
"Simple actions like mowing your grass less often, retaining soft landscaping over hard paved surfaces, and letting the odd flowering weed spring up in your garden here and there can have can be hugely beneficial to pollinators."
At the funeral Mass of comedian Brendan Grace, Fr Brian D'Arcy told mourners, "His vocation in life was quite simply nothing more and nothing less than to lift the gloom of the nation.”
President of Ireland says this figure highlights “the growing scale of the challenge we face in helping refugees, asylum seekers and those internally displaced”.
“Ground around centres of worship, presbyteries, convents and graveyards can play a crucial role if they are managed as safe places where our wild bees and other insects can find food and shelter.”
“Further militarisation has been called for in a country where the density of soldiers to civilians is one of the highest in the world” – Sri Lankan academic Dr Jude Lal Fernando of the Irish School of Ecumenics.
President Michael D. Higgins expressed the “solidarity of the Irish people with the people of France at the catastrophic damage to one of the most iconic buildings in Europe”.
The crypt under St Michan’s was broken into in February and vandalised, and the head of the 800-year-old mummy known as ‘the Crusader’ was stolen along with another skull.
“Sally was the heartbeat of Trócaire for almost 40 years. She was a truly remarkable person. She embodied our values.”
Since it was founded by the Spiritan congregation in 1999, SPIRASI has provided rehabilitative supports to over 4,500 survivors of torture from over 100 different countries.
“We are all of God’s same race. Hatred and intolerance that in any way undermine that fundamental unity of human kind are an attack on the God who created us as a single human family.”
“On this special day let us renew our commitment to equality, social justice and care for all our vulnerable people, so many of whom continue to struggle for the very necessities of life.”
“As we remember, let us also ensure that we do not become passive observers of discrimination or inequality in our society but remain vigilant to the emergence of racism and hate speech.”
Since 1976, Sr Mary Killeen has introduced education, health, and community services programmes to the slums of Mukuru in Nairobi, helping over 170,000 people to become self-sustainable.
“This rediscovered masterpiece has a special place in the gallery and we remain indebted to the Irish Jesuit community for their continued generosity in making the work available on loan” – Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland.
“Travellers are finding themselves at the centre of unwelcome and unfair comment. Our society, which is already unequal, cannot afford to become any more polarised” – Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly.
Archbishop Martin pays tribute to Maynooth professor’s life of dedicated “service to the Church and to the beauty and dignity of music in the liturgy”.
“For the most dangerous consequences of climate change will fall on those least able to bear them, on those areas already vulnerable to desertification and rising sea levels.” President Michael D Higgins.
“In accordance with Article 46 of the Constitution, President Higgins today signed the Thirty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018, and it has accordingly become law.”
However, Pieta House founder, Joan Freeman, would not, as president, “promote the cause of any particular religion or faith”.
“All of you and all of the other women who cannot be with us today were failed by these institutions, the experience of which you share, and the religious orders that ran them,” the President said.
Archbishop Neary highlighted Tom Murphy’s contribution to the work of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, while Michael D. Higgins said the playwright's themes “were universal in their reach”.
“You have been wonderful ambassadors for Ireland and for your faith. By your actions you have humbled us, and by your words you now draw the attention of our country to climate justice.”
Tributes paid to former national vice president and SVP spokesman, Professor John Monaghan, who has died aged 73.
