The Catholic Message Board

I haven't read the following just-released (16 April 2024) book, but I think it will interest some, perhaps many, folks here:

Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity

This sounds like a book I've read twice by Christopher Dawson: How the Irish Saved Civilization. The Irish monks had become a deposit of the Christian faith and education. As the rest of Europe declined, the Irish monks reversed the tide of missionary activity.

I can't help notice the similarity with our African brethren. For centuries, the fervor was directed toward that continent. Now, it seems there is no shortage of priests from Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria who are returning the favor. And the intellectual tide is from that part of the world as well led, it seems, by Cardinal Sarah.