Parish communities in Bray have offered their support for a young boy and mother who are facing imminent deportation to China. Parishioners in Co. Wicklow have said that nine-year-old Eric Zhi Ying Xue, who hit news headlines earlier this week, should not be deported to China. Although Eric was born in Ireland he is not…
In his general audience today, Pope Francis said that engaged couples require “careful preparation” for the lifelong fidelity that marriage requires. “One cannot say marriage preparation is three or four conferences given in the parish. This is not preparation,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square today, in a departure from his prepared remarks. “The…
Irish missionaries who supported St Oscar Romero during his time as Archbishop of San Salvador have welcomed the martyred bishop’s canonisation, feeling their constant support for him has been vindicated. “The feeling among the people is of quiet pride and satisfaction,” Fr Ciaran Ó Nuanain told The Irish Catholic. “The minority of us who supported…
The UK’s highest court has ruled that a Northern Ireland bakery’s refusal to make a cake with a message supporting same-sex marriage was not discriminatory. The Supreme Court found on October 10 that the Christian owners of Ashers bakery did not discriminate against a customer and did not refuse to bake the cake because of…
Documents released by the State’s ethics watchdog have shown that a group that campaigned for reduced religious influence in Church-owned schools was a campaigning organisation that received funds far in excess of amounts permitted for such groups. A complaint submitted to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) about Equate: Equality in Education, days ahead…
There should be a “wide and generous” acknowledgement of the freedom of conscience by the Government for healthcare professionals, a group of medical practitioners and lawyers have said. The comments come after an educational conference hosted by the Medico Legal Alliance on October 13, entitled The Legal Aspects of Clinical Decision Making, which brought together…
The Church needs to “take risks” on young people and use their “idealism and enthusiasm” to lead evangelisation in Ireland, according to the country’s two representatives at the Synod of Bishops. Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown, told The Irish Catholic that rather than being patronising, and asking “what can we do for young people?” Church…
Born in west Clare, one of eight children, Spiritan priest Fr Martin Kelly CSSp has been national director of World Missions Ireland since January, and seems well qualified for it with over two dozen years on the missions in Ethiopia under his belt. “Over 40 years I was there for 28 years, one batch of…
Recent days have seen some bizarre reports in Irish media about a campaign group which shut down last year following complaints to the State’s ethics watchdog that it was being illegally bankrolled to the tune of over €400,000. Irish electoral law bars organisations engaged in political campaigning from receiving over €2,500 from any one donor…
Carrying Pope Paul VI’s pastoral staff and wearing the blood-stained belt of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, Pope Francis formally recognised them, and five others, as saints of the Catholic Church. Thousands of pilgrims from the new saints’ home countries – Italy, El Salvador, Spain and Germany – were joined by tens of thousands…
Greg Daly
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady