Citizens’ Assembly is merely ‘a means to shape public opinion’ and cut constitutional thread Senator Ronan Mullen has called for the Church to engage families in light of Government plans that could “kick the Church out of education”. He said that the aim of the new Government to hold a Citizens’ Assembly on education is…

Bishop Donal McKeown has said it is unclear if parishes can actually baptise children and criticised the “lack of clarity” from the Northern Ireland Executive. Bishop McKeown said that many parents have been “crying out” to have their child baptised, which had been explicitly banned under lockdown. Highlighting the confusion around the changing rules, Bishop…

A well-known parish priest and author has said that it is a “scandal” for churches to remain closed for public Mass in the wake of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. “I think it’s an absolute scandal, I think it’s just selfish. I can’t warrant it, as our Christian leadership, they’re erring on the side of…

Dublin’s Parish Pastoral Workers (PPWs) are among the 82 lay staff asked by Dublin Diocese to consider a voluntary redundancy package which has been described by some PPWs this paper spoke to as ‘generous’. However, the main concern of PPWs appears to be what does the future hold for those who don’t take the redundancy…

Tributes have streamed in from the faithful around the world for Oscar winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Most famous to many Catholics for his score for the film The Mission, he died aged 91. Morricone died in a Rome hospital on Monday, July 6 after he was admitted days earlier with a fractured femur. Morricone’s…