Irish Jesuits

Fr Barney McGuckian SJ on the life and heroism of young St Aloysius Gonzaga.

KEVIN DORAN, BISHOP OF ELPHIN [2007] :: For centuries, Glendalough – the valley of the two lakes – has attracted people because of its unique blend of solitude and natural beauty, making it easy to understand why St Kevin went there as a hermit and later chose to build his monastery there. Fr. Kevin Doran told Eileen Good how it is that Glendalough still has an appeal for those wishing to take tim...

Pádraig Ó’Tuama is a poet, theologian, and friend of Dr Kevin Hargaden of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. He is also a broadcaster and former leader of the Corrymeela Community of peace and reconciliation in Belfast. In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications, he tells the story of a fascinating ‘process-workshop’ he developed with his late friend Glenn Jordan, also a...

The Irish Jesuit Province in Dublin is going greener and Dr Ciara Murphy of their Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice will draw up the plan from implementation based on suggestions, big or small, that she receives from all who want to take part. You can email her with your ideas at ecology@jcfj.ie. Learn more about the process and the greening of the Irish Province by listening to her interview ab...

Can one be a mystic in the midst of a life full of distraction and responsibilities?  What is specific or unique to Ignatian Spirituality? Why did Pope Francis hold up the lesser-known Jesuit Saint Peter Faber as a model for all priests? These are just some of the questions Brian O'Leary SJ discusses in the interview above with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications. Brian is the author of many...

The inauguration of Joe Biden as President has given hope to many, according to Donal Godfrey SJ, an Irish Jesuit living and working as a chaplain in San Fransisco University. In the interview above with Pat Coyle, he gives his unique take on recent events. He outlines the importance of Joe Biden's Catholic faith and his own Jesuit friends and colleagues who have assisted him in that regard as rec...

Irish Jesuit theologian Dr Gerry O'Hanlon SJ believes there are important lessons to be leart from the recent report into the Mother and Baby Homes report,(12 January 2021). The report, which covered the years from 1922 -1998, was both controversial and shocking. It was based on the testimonies of over 500 women who recounted their experiences of living in the homes whilst pregnant and subsequentl...

Jesuit.ie writer Gavin T Murphy draws from his American education at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Barack Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ presidential campaign to offer a short reflection and mantra exercise.

Jesuit.ie writer Gavin T Murphy presents a guided meditation on faith and mindfulness. He invites listeners to use their imagination to get in touch with an intimacy with Jesus and offers an exercise to enter into a spacious mind.

Dr Kevin Hargaden of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland says we are not heading into an ecological crisis, we are in it now. He says we need to act immeditaely in an integrated and structured manner that will challenge every sector of society. We need a 'structural conversion' he says, for what we have done to our planet is not just wrong but profoundly sinful.

The ecological disaster is now by Irish Jesuits

"We can breathe again, a weight has been lifted and I somehow feel lighter". So says Donal Godfrey SJ, speaking in the wake of the 2020 elections in America.  Donal is an Irish Jesuit working as a chaplain in the Jesuit University of San Francisco and he spoke recently to Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications about a number of issues arising from the historic election which saw one of the highe...

Pope Francis hit the headlines with comments he made endorsing civil unions for same-sex partnerships. Gerry Whelan SJ, an Irish Jesuit theologian teaching in the Gregorian University in Rome gives the background to this and other recent stories from the Vatican. He's talking with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications.

Irish Jesuit theologian Gerry O'Hanlon discusses the significance of Pope Francis' latest encyclical in which the Pope gives his unique reading of 'the signs of the times'. He's in coversation with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications.

The former Salvadoran Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano was sentenced in Spain on Friday 11 September 2020 to 133 years in prison for the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, Julian Elba Ramos, and her daughter Celina. The massacre took place on 16 November 1989. Michael O'Sullivan is an Irish Jesuit who worked under death treat Pinochet's Chile. He knew some of the Jesuits who died. In...

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, 2020. It's directorDr Kevin Hargaden says the work of the centre is developing and flourishing. In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications he outlines the integrated policy work of the center in the areas of the environment, housing, prisons, and public health.

Irish Jesuit Bishop Alan McGuckian, is Bishop of the diocese of Raphoe in Co. Donegal. In July 202o he set off on a 240 km pilgrim trek taking in many places in Donegal and Derry associated with St Colmcille, the Irish saint who ended up founding a monastic settlement on the island of Iona, Scotland. In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications, Bishop Alan tells the tale of his...

In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications Niall reflects on his ordination on Sat 22 August 2020, and the challenges to the day posed by Covid-19. He recounts how he still felt the presence of the Spirit especially when he prayed in silence before the ceremony, at the tomb of fellow Jesuit Blessed John Sullivan SJ. He also notes the importance of the presence of his fellow Je...

Nobel peace prize winner and proud Derry man John Hume died in his native city in the early hours of Monday 3 August 2020, aged 83. Pat Coyle, Director of Irish Jesuit Communications is a Derry woman who grew up besdie him in the Bogside. She knew him since she was a child and later when working as a journalist for the BBC in Belfast and then RTE in Dublin. In this interview with Miriam Gormally o...

In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications Michael McGuckian SJ talks about his work in Ankara and what it is like being a Christian in Turkey. He also updates her on the Covid-19 situation as the country emerges slowly from lockdown. A substantial part of the interview concerns Michael's latest book which he has just completed. 'The Charismatic Structure of the Church: Priest...

Dr Con Casey, lecturer in theology at the Loyola  Institute in Trinity College Dublin, outlines the specifics of their new year-long certificate course in Christian theology. He speaks to Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications and suggests who would benefit from the course or who it might appeal to; the mode of assessment (essay not exam); and the general content that will be covered.

Irish Jesuit Gerry Whelan SJ is a theologian writing and teaching in the Gregorian University in Rome. He is also working with the Jesuits and their co-workers in Hong Kong, a place where the Chinese government has been clamping down on pro-democracy protestors. One aspect of Gerry's work involves supporting Jesuits and their lay colleagues who are facilitating dialogue in their local retreat cent...

JaNaé Bates works in Minneapolis USA as a minister in the United Methodist Church. She is a member of Isaiah, a grouping of religious organisations from Christian, Muslim, and other faith backgrounds working for racial and economic justice for everyone in the state of Minnesota. In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications, JaNaé talks about her work with Isaiah. She describes t...

Jesuit.ie writer Gavin Thomas Murphy offers a three minute guided meditation in which we ask ourselves three questions on gratitude and the Covid-19 pandemic: Can we be grateful for the time we have had? Can we be thankful for what this time has taught us? Can we carry forth lessons into the future? He also shares his own personal learning over the last three months.

Michael Kirwan SJ is a theologian with a particular interest in political theology and who lectures in the Loyola Institute of Catholic theology in Trinity College Dublin. This interview by Zoom with Pat Coyle on Wednesday 3 June 2020 took place against the backdrop of the anti-racist protests across the United States of America after the murder of George Floyd by white police officers and the con...