The Church needs to show mercy in the context of new and more complex family narratives in modern Ireland, the cardinal tapped by Pope Francis to launch his major document on marriage and the family has said. Speaking ahead of his visit to Ireland this week to address Thursday’s ‘Let’s Talk Family: Let’s Be Family’…
Government challenged to act on rural GP crisis Independent TD Mattie McGrath has challenged the Government for inaction which he said is resulting in the slow death of rural GP practice. Deputy McGrath has asked Health Minister Simon Harris to clarify the steps he’s taking to address the ongoing crisis in declining numbers of rural…
Staff reporter All the schools in Killarney will nominate a specific ‘Hugh O’Flaherty Day’ this September, when they will include an activity based on the Kerryman’s life in their daily schedule. Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty, who worked in Rome during the Second World War, is thought to have been responsible for saving as many as 6,500…
The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for special collections at all Masses next weekend (July 22-23) to fund life-saving aid for people affected by the devastating hunger crisis in east-Africa. The money raised will be donated to Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Irish Church, which is delivering emergency food, water and health…
There is an apt Latin phrase in response to the retirement of Vincent Browne from our screens: Sic transit gloria mundi. Thus passes the glory of the world! It would be inflating even the remarkable VB’s reputation to call him a reflection of the world’s glory, but the phrase just underlines the passing of all…
Fr Aidan McGarth OFM has been chosen as the new provincial of the Irish Province of Franciscan friars after an election at Franciscan College, Gormanston in Co. Meath. Up to his election, Fr McGarth was General Secretary of the Franciscan Order in the General Curia in Rome. A native of Banbridge, Co. Down, he was…
The Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin is hosting what is believed to be the first Irish diocesan picnic next month, in an effort to reach out to all the families of the diocese and gather them together as a community. “The idea is that families from all over the 56 parishes would go to the…
A few months back, Belfast City Council debated an apparently innocuous motion, that “this Council recognises that all individuals have the right to healthcare, which includes that healthcare should be physically accessible and within safe reach for all sections of the population. People should not face fear and intimidation when accessing healthcare services. “Therefore, the…
Fr Gerry O’Hanlon Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice Describing Dr Martin’s Würzburg lecture as “a perceptive commentary on the situation in Ireland”, Fr O’Hanlon said that Pope Francis’ vision of a collegial or synodal Church seems the way forward in Ireland as much as the world at large. “I think it will be interesting…
Understanding the religious culture of Ireland and its political impact today is not an easy task. It is not an easy task for those of us who were born and live in Ireland; it is not easy for people living in a different cultural background. I wish to reflect on changes in Irish religious culture today, changes…
Greg Daly
Mags Gargan
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan