Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s call for a new relationship between Church and State remains an important call for dialogue, Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said. “So far no progress has been made by the Government in developing the Taoiseach’s idea of a Covenant,” Archbishop Martin said yesterday about Mr Varadkar’s Dublin Castle speech during the papal…

A man has been charged after an historic Dublin church crypt was “desecrated” and the head of an 800-year-old mummy known as ‘the Crusader’ was severed and stolen. The man (36) was arrested yesterday morning (March 14) and was brought before the evening sitting of Dublin District Court. Brian Bridgeman, with an address in Dublin…

An Irish bishop has condemned the terrorist attack on two crowded mosques which left 49 people dead in New Zealand today (March 15). Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin diocese said serious questions must be answered including in our own society by those who “unjustly blame the entire Muslim community for the extremism of some”. The…

Making a willingness to perform abortions a job requirement for consultant doctors threatens the training and recruiting of hospital staff, Ireland’s bishops have said. In a statement following the Spring 2019 General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the hierarchy “noted with regret the pre-conditions for applicants listed in the recent advertisement for a…

An Irish nun who won a prestigious humanitarian award said she hopes it will encourage other missionaries to continue their dangerous work, as well as spread a broader appreciation of the work of religious in Ireland. Wicklow-born Loreto Sr Orla Treacy, received the ‘International Women of Courage Award’ for her outreach work and educational mission…