Mags GarganArchbishop Diarmuid Martin greets Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria on his visit to Dublin. Photo: John McElroy
Month: May 2017
Ireland gives €6m to world’s poorest
Ireland will provide €6m to two struggling African countries that have been ravaged by war and chronic poverty. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR) are among the poorest countries in the world, with food insecurity and malnutrition affecting 6.4 million people. Each country will receive €3m from Ireland through…
Church watchdog sees sharpest decline in abuse allegations
The independent watchdog which monitors handling of abuse allegations in the Irish Church has seen its “sharpest decline” in allegations since it started keeping records. The National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) received 86 new allegations during the period 2016/2017. The allegations include 72 relating to sexual…
A soldier’s song in Lourdes
Courtney McGrailCadet Jerome Scully from the 93rd cadet class conducts the cadet school choir from the Curragh at the annual international military pilgrimage in Lourdes this week. Photo: La Caze
Problems facing the world mustn’t make us pessimistic
Michael Kelly
“There has never been a greater need for mutual understanding and cooperation”, writes Michael Kelly Sadly we’re becoming all-too-used to that sinking feeling of waking up in the morning to turn on the radio to news of yet another terrorist atrocity in towns and cities that are known to us. That feeling is all-the-more heart-wrenching…
Priests are very selfless people – Sean Bean
Actor Sean Bean, who has taken on one of his most “nerve-wracking” roles playing a hard-working Catholic priest, has said he discovered through his experience how “selfless” priests are. Known for action roles in Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, in a new six-part BBC drama written by Jimmy McGovern the actor plays…
Fr Cullen highlights plight of exploited children
Chai Brady
An Irish priest known for his work protecting children in danger of trafficking and abuse has briefed the Oireachtas on the depraved tortures faced by vulnerable young people. Fr Shay Cullen, a Columban missionary, has been fighting horrific treatment of women and children in the Philippines, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize…
Archbishop highlights national concern for Ibrahim Halawa
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has expressed his “humanitarian concern” for Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen still awaiting trial in Egypt after four years of imprisonment. The Archbishop of Dublin used the visit of Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria as an opportunity to highlight the 21-year-old’s case in front of the Egyptian ambassador during a meeting at…
African priests take up call to revitalise Irish Church
Mags Gargan and Chai Brady New missionaries will ‘inject new life’ Irish parishioners are being urged to embrace new thinking and a new wave of missionaries from overseas as a way to revitalise the Church in Ireland. Decades after Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich provoked derision in the 1980s by saying the Church in Ireland would…
Hopes high Pope Francis will include North on trip
Chai Brady President Michael D. Higgins has expressed the hope that Pope Francis will travel North of the border during an expected visit to Ireland next summer. In a 15-minute meeting with Mr Higgins in Rome the Pope said the prospect of a visit to the North was a possibility. Mr Higgins told the Pontiff…