Personal Profile The subject of women’s role in the Church has been a hot topic in recent years. In Kilmore diocese, one talented individual has been key in organising a group of women who are keen to learn more about modern human and spiritual formation. Originally from Chicago and of Irish parentage, Kathryn Clarke is…
Laws against prostitution should be used to “tackle” sex buyers and ‘pimps’, a charity has said after a ruling saw two women jailed in Kildare. Dedicated to supporting people in prostitution, Catholic-founded Ruhama has criticised a decision to jail two women for nine months for running a brothel. A premises in Newbridge was raided in…
The summer has come and I am on holidays on a small island off the west coast of France. The landscape is a flat patchwork quilt of salt marshes criss-crossed with bicycle paths. Cycling from one village to the next, it is the landmark of the church spire that draws you to your destination. Village…
No community should botch its deaths. Mircea Eliade wrote those words and they’re a warning: if we do not properly celebrate the life of someone who has left us we do an injustice to that person and cheat ourselves of some of the gift that he or she left behind. With this in mind, I…
Virtual candles and online petitions will be high-tech ways of giving Limerick’s Redemptorist community a global reach. Dubbed by one man “the Munster final of religion”, the annual Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is expected to draw thousands of people from all over north Munster and beyond. In this multi-media age,…
Inspiring an appreciation for nature and care for animals is what many parents strive to foster in their children. With one activity you can check this box as well as so many others. Building a bird feeder using a cardboard carton is a good way of recycling, being creative as well as helping local wildlife…
Mark Patrick Hederman In a homily delivered in Belfast’s St Anne’s Cathedral, Mark Patrick Hederman OSB, reflects on the life of the Duchess of Abercorn Alexandra Hamilton – known as Sacha – who died on December 9, 2018. Dear Friends of Sacha, We are not here today to bury our beloved. That happened, most appropriately,…
While numbers entering seminaries and religious life across Europe have been in decline over recent decades, there is a slow rise now with young people coming into religious life “more prepared, usually from a spiritual direction point of view”, according to the Director of Vocations Ireland. Returning from a meeting in Rome for people working…
I’ve had a few ‘Feeding the 5,000’ experiences lately. The first was a Guest Tea at our GAA club – afternoon tea and a variety of entertainment from Traditional music and recitations to the short play or ‘Leiriú’ which our club got through to the All-Ireland Scór final this year. People hosted tables, providing everything…
Elderly priests are seeking to focus on pastoral work in the face of growing administrative burdens, Ossory’s Bishop Dermot Farrell has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic after announcing this year’s diocesan changes, Bishop Farrell said he had tried to support elderly priests. “This year the men wanted to be relieved on the administrative side…
Chai Brady
Maria Steen
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Susan Gately
Bairbre Cahill
Greg Daly