Sacraments must be celebrated ‘validly’ – bishop The sacraments need to be celebrated “validly” as well as nicely, Bishop Kevin Doran has said after the Vatican released a new document on the importance of the celebrating the sacraments well. Gestis verbisque (Deeds and Words), released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF),…
Publishers and authors have described the announcement that Veritas, the publishing arm of the Irish bishops’ conference, is to wind down this year with the loss of 80 jobs as a “huge loss”.
Parishes and dioceses across the North are promoting foster care as the Health & Social care Northern Ireland (HSCNI) has warned of “significant challenges” in identifying families from a Catholic background willing to foster or adopt children.
Politicians in the North of Ireland must work against people stuck in the “dark ages” who want to stop Catholics joining the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), a superintendent has insisted.
A Nigerian priest living in Ireland has welcomed the European Parliament’s adoption of a resolution condemning violence targeting Christians in Nigeria that took place over Christmas but has said that action rather than words is needed.
The biggest danger to young people in terms of sexual abuse comes from their classmates, not “dirty old men around the corner”, Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry diocese has warned.
Most parents and grandparents will be horrified at the recent headlines declaring that almost a quarter of six-year-olds have their own smartphones. Given the prevalence and ease of access to internet porn, this seems crazy. Some 30 years ago, a friend was horrified when her daughter was conducting an internet search for pictures of the…
The Department for Education is planning a national survey of parents of primary and pre-school age children to test the waters for divestment in the primary sector.
Heraldry is an omnipresent but little understood aspect of Catholic symbolism, writes Michael Heinlein Ecclesiastical heraldry is both familiar and mysterious. Frequently seen in one form or another, coats of arms pervade our Catholic culture in numerous ways: on letters and newspapers, diocesan websites and social media pages, in Roman churches and diocesan cathedrals. Most…
Ireland is not full, but public services are creaking and the political elite will fuel community strife if it doesn’t listen, writes Michael Kelly There’s a now iconic scene in the 1990s hit sitcom Father Ted where, after a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, the eponymous Fr Ted Crilly finds himself accused of being hostile towards newcomers…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady
Breda O'Brien
Michael Kelly