Sean McDonagh reports on the International Conference on Religions and Sustainable Development Goals that was held from 07 March to 09 March in the Vatican. 

Regional meetings in support of the well-being of priests were held during February in Kilkenny, Tuam, Cork, Letterkenny, Dublin, Limerick and Armagh.

In his Catholic Times column Chris McDonnell reflects on Lent.
"Too often we are quick with our answers on matters of faith and morality when really we should look more at the options and context..........Maybe that is what Lent gives us, more time than usual to ask the difficult questions, not of others but of ourselves. And if the answers are not immediate, then we should not worry."

Jo O'Sullivan gives an account of her experience of a Deanery meeting.
"My experience at the Deanery meeting has me wondering if, ........ It is all only window-dressing - a pretence that the members of Parish Pastoral Councils are involved in decision-making.

As the second week of Lent begins in other countries, we pause from our lenten penances to honour Patrick, the apostle of the Irish. In our celebration of this solemn feast, we worship God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier, who brought our ancestors into the Christian fold through the preaching of St Patrick.

Paddy Ferry reminds all readers in Scotland that Tony Flannery will be there on Thursday evening, 21 March, at Edinburgh University talking about "Celibacy, Sexuality and the Crisis in the Priesthood".
"A Conversation with Fr. Tony Flannery", 6th Floor Common Room, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LD. 7.00pm to 9.00pm.

Paddy also draws our attention to the fact that the German bishops have started "a binding synodal process", as Cardinal Marx has called it, to discuss much the same topic.  It  has been reported in many outlets including the Catholic Herald.

For those who find the "new missal" prayers unwieldy and cumbersome to say aloud there is an alternative 'approved by English speaking Bishops' Conferences if unapproved by curia' option in the ICEl 1998 Missal. 

Roy Donovan reflects on the discussion evening on the themes of the book, Elephant in the Church, on Women’s International Day, March 8th, in the Avila Centre in Donnybrook

Seamus Ahearne writes against the backdrop of current experience where "We can feel got at ... we feel accused of sexual chaos  .... we are deflated ... the Church is battered. .... the priesthood is in a mess." and states that we still need to be "people who have a view of a bigger picture and can give a real context to every day and always have a broader outlook. We can’t be a slave to the News or to the Moment." We can't let life get us down.

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt reports in La Croix International on a press conference given by Father Helmut Schüller of Austria where he said that the sex abuse crisis shows an urgent need to 'desacralize' the Catholic priesthood and empower the laity. Time, he warned "is running out for the Church to make major structural changes if its leaders want to save it from collapse."