The new curriculum framework for primary schools announced last week reconfirms the importance of religion and spirituality, a body representing Catholic schools has said. The curriculum, launched last week by Minister for Education Norma Foley, will come into play in 2026. The Irish bishops’ conference and the Catholic Education Partnership have both welcomed the updated…
The Apostle to the Irish has influence far beyond these shores, writes Fr Emílio Bortolini Neto St Patrick and Ireland are deeply connected. You can’t think of one without being reminded of the other. Although he wasn’t Irish, after he came to Ireland, the country would never be the same. Patrick, an arrogant young man…
Carol Glatz Right from the start, upon his election, Pope Francis presented a whole new style of being pontiff. The way he spoke to the vast crowd after his election March 13, 2013, was familial and down-to-earth, beginning with, “Brothers and sisters, good evening,” and ending with “We’ll see each other soon!” and “Have a…
The decision by the Council of Europe to call for full compliance regarding human rights in proposed legislation to deal with the legacy of the Troubles has been welcomed by a well-known human rights professor in Belfast. Professor Colin Harvey, Director of the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast told The Irish Catholic that the…
Rome, Open City (1945) is a film famous for a variety of reasons. It is credited with starting a whole new film movement called Italian Neo-realism; filmed in the streets of Rome at the end of WWII, it is also a rare historical document. What will likely cement its exalted position in film history long-term,…
Cindy Wooden From the beginning of his pontificate 10 years ago, Pope Francis set out to reform the structure and attitudes of the Roman Curia and knew he also had to reform the Vatican’s financial system and stewardship of resources. One month after his election, he announced he was forming an international Council of Cardinals…
There is “delight” following the decision by the Irish bishops to recommend that 30% of parish grounds be returned to nature by 2030. Jane Mellett, the Laudato Si’ Officer of Trócaire, said that the announcement by the bishops after their spring meeting directly responds to the call of Pope Francis. She said that for parishes…
Who else could feature as the saint of the week but our very own patron saint, St Patrick? Fortunately, we know a good deal about this archetypal holy man as he wrote two accounts that we have access to today – quite unique for that region at that time, as texts are scarcer than historians…
Mary DeTurris Poust Back when my husband and I taught a two-year confirmation prep program at our parish, many of the students in our class were attending because they had to be there. They did the work, asked good questions, trudging through the weekly evening sessions, but faith formation was just one more requirement on…
Justin McLellan When Pope Francis greeted the thousands of faithful gathered in a rain-soaked St Peter’s Square March 13, 2013, he quipped that his brother cardinals looked almost to “the ends of the earth” to find a new bishop of Rome. The end of the world, in this case, was Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Pope…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady