In episode 9 of The Confession Box, Brandon Scott and editor Michael Kelly reflect on the intertwined life and faith of Shane MacGowan, society’s urge to start talking about Christmas earlier and earlier every year and some parting words from the editor of The Irish Catholic as he prepares to step down from his post…
Month: December 2023
Warning of parish ‘class divide’ if lay ministry not funded properly
Ruadhán Jones
There is a growing danger of a “class divide” emerging between parishes if there isn’t proper financial investment in lay ministries, the country’s first ever parish manager has warned. Lay leaders have also said that it will be “impossible” to encourage co-responsibility and encourage laypeople to take on more responsibility if there isn’t proper pay…
Michael Kelly to step down as IC Editor
Long-serving Editor of The Irish Catholic Michael Kelly has announced that he will step down from the position early in 2024, after more than 12 years in the Editor’s chair. Mr Kelly, a native of Co. Tyrone, served as the paper’s Rome Correspondent before joining the Dublin office in 2005. He was appointed Deputy Editor in…
Italy’s ‘most handsome man’ set to pursue priesthood
A young man once voted the most handsome man in Italy has quit his modelling job in order to join the priesthood. Edoardo Santini (21) was just 17 years old when he was voted Italy’s most handsome man in 2019, as part of a modelling pageant. The social media star took to Instagram to share…
Tánaiste urges calm over Armenian Quarter dispute in Jerusalem
Tensions are sky-high in Jerusalem’s Old City as a battle plays out between the city’s small Armenian Christian community and an Australian-Israeli businessman, which sees the Christian presence in the Armenian Quarter of the old city threatened by development plans. In a statement on the recent developments, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that they…
Selling Bishop’s House in Dromore signals no new bishop
Chai Brady
After more than five years without a bishop the Diocese of Dromore’s plan to sell Bishop’s House and surrounding land in Newry to fund their redress scheme signals there will not be another bishop appointed. The land is believed to be worth about £3 million (€3.5 million). It is expected that Dromore and the Archdiocese…
Shane MacGowan: a man of ‘deep seated prayerfulness’
Shane MacGowan had an “inner Faith that spoke to him” according to a member of The Priests, who recorded Little Drummer Boy with the renowned musician. Tributes have poured in for the former frontman of The Pogues who has often spoken about the importance of prayer in his life. The influence of his Catholic upbringing…
How Advent has been eclipsed…
Mary Kenny
The supermarket sound system is playing ‘Rudolfph the Rednosed Reindeer’, while at the church, we are reminded that this is Advent, the season of quietly preparing for the Nativity – and not yet Christmas itself. The contrast between what the secular culture expects of us, and what Christianity teaches, is obvious. Time was when a…
Referendum would downgrade marriage – campaigners
Pro-family campaigners have warned that a proposed referendum to amend the Constitution would be a “further downgrading of the importance of marriage to society”. The Government announced on Tuesday that it intended to ask the people to amend Article 41 of the Constitution to provide for a wider concept of Family; and delete Article 41.2…
Irish priest in Philippines tells of bomb attack ‘shock’
A bomb attack that saw four killed and dozens injured at a university Mass in the southern Philippines has “shocked” the Church there according to an Irish Columban living in Manila. Media reports state the December 3 explosion caused panic among dozens of students and teachers in a gymnasium where Mass was taking place, at…