A leading religious education expert has said he “remains to be convinced” that a planned change to employment equality law will protect the right of Catholic schools to defend their religious ethos. Theologian Dr John Murray said he was “concerned” by the Minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s announcement that he was working hard to…

Staff Reporter Broadcaster Adrian Chiles has spoken of his “enriching experience” attending Mass at a different church every day during Lent. “It felt like it would be a real struggle, a penance. It turned out to be anything but. It was a rich and enriching experience – spiritually, obviously, but I was also enraptured by…

A Pilgrim prays to Archbishop Oscar Romero during beatification Mass in the Divine Saviour of the World square in San Salvador. Photo: CNS

A Dublin-based priest has insisted that “heads would roll” if a political party lost a vote as badly as the Church did in the marriage referendum. He also accused some of the bishops of giving “no leadership”. Fr Joe McDonald of St Matthew’s parish in west Dublin told The Irish Catholic “my difficulty is that…

Tributes have been paid to broadcasting legend Bill O’Herlihy, a daily Massgoer who had described himself as a “committed Catholic”. The well-known Cork man, who retired as RTE’s main sports presenter last summer after almost half a century, died this week aged 76. Fr Frank Herron, Administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Foxrock, where…

Six Irish priests concelebrated Mass with Pope Francis in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae in the Vatican on a visit to Rome to celebrate the 55th anniversary of their ordination to the priesthood:Fr Kevin McMullan (Down & Connor diocese), Canon Brian McCluskey (Clogher diocese, living in Belfast), Fr Phil O’Connell (Kerry diocese), Fr Brian…

The same-sex marriage referendum result was “a defeat” that highlights a gap between the Church and modern society, the Vatican daily newspaper has said. “The margin between the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ votes was too large not to be accepted as a defeat. It was the result of high voter turnout, notably among young people,”…

Staff Reporter A parish consultation process with 140 clubs and active groups in Thurles is due to bear fruit next week with a Corpus Christi procession celebrating diversity. Over the last year the ‘Thurles Parish People & Priests Group’ has met representatives of all the active groups in the Co. Tipperary town, to conduct a…