The Superior General of the Missionary Society of St Columban has criticised the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement as “jeopardising” global efforts to prevent the destruction of the planet. Fr Kevin O’Neill SSC said the Columbans “stand against policies that negatively affect the communities we serve, our common home, and in particular the…
Meath composer writes hymn for papal visit A musician from the Diocese of Meath has been selected to write the lead hymn for the World Meeting of Families. Entitled ‘A Joy for all the World’, the hymn was composed by Ephrem Feeley, one of Ireland’s most established composers of liturgical music, with over 200 pieces…
“Tolerance and esteem for other cultures should be automatically part of a decent education”, writes Mary Kenny According to Dr Victoria Showunmi at Maynooth University, the teaching of history and other subjects in Ireland should be adjusted to reflect the cultures and experiences of new immigrants. Schools and colleges should offer a curriculum that doesn’t…
The World of Books There are many people who see the Church of the Middle Ages as being an institution not only at the peak of its sanctity, but also as a model from which modern society can learn. I suspect that this view, especially in Ireland, owes much to the views of Chesterton and…
The Bishop of Kerry has announced that from September, no funerals in the diocese will take place on a Sunday, for liturgical reasons and because of the reduction in priests. acknowleged that “many will have reservations about this decision” but said it had been taken “after extensive consultation with laity and clergy throughout the diocese”…
The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) should leave behind a legacy of helping families caught in the “disgraceful” homeless crisis in Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said. Speaking at a conference on the WMOF, Dr Martin said there should not only be a spiritual legacy from the event, but also a focus on “what we…
Record numbers of pilgrims visited St Patrick’s Purgatory in Lough Derg for the opening weekend of the island shrine’s 2017 Three-Day Pilgrimage season. With numbers up 10% on last year’s opening weekend, Fr Owen McEneaney, Prior of Lough Derg, told The Irish Catholic that it was even more heartening to compare today’s numbers – which…
Retired Derry priest Fr Harry Coyle (77) was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ulster University in recognition of his lifetime of achievements in Irish language teaching and scholarship. Pictured with Fr Coyle are Prof. Paddy Nixon and Dr Malachy O’Neill, Ulster University. Photo: Nigel McDowell/Ulster University
Christopher Moriarty Europe’s Atlantic Fringe: Exploring the west coasts of Portugal, Spain and Ireland by Michael Fewer (Ashfield Press, €25) Michael Fewer combines scholarship with readability in an impressive number of books about Ireland, Irish people and Irish architecture. In his latest work he widens the range by the addition of two countries, Portugal and…
A Rome-based moral theologian has said the Vatican has an obligation to block plans by the Sisters of Charity to facilitate the building of a new National Maternity Hospital where it is expected that abortions will take place. Fr Kevin O’Reilly OP, who lectures in Rome’s Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, better known as…
Mags Gargan
Mary Kenny
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Courtney McGrail