Chai Brady and Matthew Carlson One of the biggest events for young Catholics in Ireland has been cancelled this year due to low bookings and slow fundraising with volunteers and attendees opting to focus on the World Meeting of Families this August. Although there is some disappointment among organisers, they will now set their sights on the WMOF.…
Matthew Carlson A former Irish international rugby player has been chosen to speak at the Pastoral Conference at the World Meeting of Families this month. Ronan O’Gara played fly-half for several Irish teams and is now the assistant coach of the Canterbury Crusaders in New Zealand. O’Gara will be speaking on the topic of ‘Celebrating…
A religion department in Dublin’s Trinity College will no longer be offering an undergraduate degree in Catholic Theological Studies following significant internal changes between departments within the university. The Loyola Institute, which was established in 2012 following an agreement between Trinity College Dublin and the eight religious congregations associated with the Milltown Institute of Theology…
Parents will continue to “foot the bill” for primary education costs until the sector is properly funded, a Catholic schools association has said as a third of families admitted back to school fees have put them in debt. Despite schools making efforts to keep costs as low as possible for parents, a survey conducted by…
Matthew Carlson The recent drought in Ireland may have revealed a significant archaeological find – what is thought to be the childhood home of St Oliver Plunkett just outside Oldcastle. The hot weather and lack of rain this summer has exposed the outline of a house on what is now the Loughcrew estate with a…
The Netflix drama series The Crown, drawing, sometimes semi-fictitiously, on the private lives of the British royal family has been so successful that the BBC now plans to launch its own particular royal drama along similar lines. This new drama will be about the lives and loves of Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth’s sister, who died…
A prominent pro-life group has said that a new president who defends the right to life could be a powerful voice for those who support pro-life initiatives. The comments come after the apparently unofficial launch of a campaign which would see Fianna Fáil councillor Éamon Ó Cuiv running for the presidential election. Spokesperson for the…
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the College of Cardinals of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, and has ordered him to maintain “a life of prayer and penance” until a canonical trial examines accusations that he sexually abused minors. The announcement came first from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and…
Women were ordained as deacons in the past, the question now is will they be in the future, writes Phyllis Zagano Pope Francis arrives in Dublin on August 25 for the World Meeting of Families. That’s the feast of St Louis, the 13th Century French King who left his wife and 11 children at…
Unionists need to take their “heads out of the sand” and accept that a soon-to-be Catholic majority in the North of Ireland will pave the way for a reunification of the island, a prominent Irish priest has said. Fermanagh priest and well-known civil rights activist, Fr Joe McVeigh, said that in accordance with recent census…
Chai Brady
Mary Kenny
Colm Fitzpatrick