Is it time to have a gathering? Philomena shines a light on an aspect of Irish in need of urgent attention. The movie Philomena, based on Philomena Lee’s real-life search for her son who was adopted by an American family, highlights the issue of the many clandestine adoptions of Irish children by U.S. families, and the complicity of religious orders and government and … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Irish-American Adoptions
The Last Word
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: A Handshake on the Road to Reconciliation
The day after his groundbreaking handshake with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness delivered the following speech (which has been condensed for publication) at a Sinn Féin event in Westminster. Though he describes the handshake as political, highly significant and very symbolic, McGuinness doesn’t believe that the journey to … [Read more...] about The Last Word: A Handshake on the Road to Reconciliation
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
The Last Word:
The Walk of a Queen
Reflections on Queen Elizabeth's historic trip to Ireland.
The recent four-day visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland – the first by a reigning monarch in a hundred years – was a stunning triumph, capped by the five-minute standing ovation she received at a musical performance on her final night in the Irish capital. That performance included excerpts from Riverdance, which … [Read more...] about The Last Word:
The Walk of a Queen