A new National Library of Ireland exhibition celebrating the life and work of Seamus Heaney gives an overview of the poet laureate's life and work. When Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, the Swedish Academy noted the “lyrical beauty and ethical depth” of his work. His poems, though often suffused with allusions to Dante, Homer, and the other … [Read more...] about Listen Now Again
Catholic
Bishop’s Mansion is Gone With the Wind
In recent news, Atlanta’s Archbishop Wilton Gregory surprised the city’s Catholic community when it was discovered that the mansion he built on property donated by Joseph Mitchell had cost $2.2 million. Mitchell, a nephew of Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell, passed away in 2011, leaving his property and home to the church, specifically requesting that his family … [Read more...] about Bishop’s Mansion is Gone With the Wind
Hospital Nuns: From the Civil War to Today
From the Civil War to Chicago’s Mercy Hospital, the extraordinary history of Irish nuns in health care. The Sisters of Mercy were the first women to go with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War in 1854. They worked with her to make nursing more effective and to improve sanitary conditions. In America, the Sisters of Mercy would make their impact on the battlefields in … [Read more...] about Hospital Nuns: From the Civil War to Today
The Last Word: Love Thy Neighbor
A couple of years ago, in my capacity as President of the Glenmary Missioners, I was visiting one of our priests in south Georgia. It was February, cold and gloomy, and we had spent an entire day driving around three counties. As we drove, Fr. Vick pointed out the different trailer parks — each one more rundown and dilapidated than the other. He noted the individual trailers … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Love Thy Neighbor
The Last Word: Stand With the Sisters
Mary Pat Kelly looks at the Vatican’s latest censorship move to silence American nuns. I am shocked and heartsick at the Vatican’s action to censor the nuns. I know a lot of nuns, I was one myself for six years. Nuns are the wise women of our tribe. We cannot let the Vatican throw them under the bus. I wrote about a visit to the Mother-house of my order, the Sisters of … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Stand With the Sisters