Church in Ireland is facing a very well publicised crisis in vocations to the priesthood, one which the recently ended Year for Vocation was an attempt to tackle. If we’re not careful, our local Church could be facing a second vocations crisis – this time among the laity – and the window is narrowing in…
Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 9:26-31 Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 1 Jn 3:18-24 Jn 15:1-8 The readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter introduce us to someone we don’t hear about very much. But he has a lot to say to us, especially now. I’m talking about St Barnabas. The reading from Acts describes…
Stefan Meetschen (KNA) Restructuring of the public media, school lessons without homework, four drafts for a more liberal abortion law – since the majority of Poles voted for a change of policy last October, the centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Civic Platform, part of the Civic Coalition electoral alliance) has been doing…
EXCLUSIVE Dublin airport has done a one-eighty on banning the blessing of planes in news that has “delighted” the chaplain. Last week the airport announced that due to “changes in security protocols” the tradition of blessing planes ‘airside’ would be stopped, causing considerable backlash. However, Fr Des Doyle of Dublin Airport Church, Our Lady Queen…
Social media behemoth Facebook has restricted two of The Irish Catholic’s posts citing they are suspected of breaching ‘hate speech’ and ‘violence and incitement’ community standards respectively. The first post linking an article with the headline ‘Priest will continue blessing planes despite airport ban’, which was published on April 11, was flagged for potentially going…
Dublin diocese has announced the divestment of St Mary’s Primary School, Dorset Street, Dublin 7, which has transferred to secular patronage. As of April 15, St Mary’s will be under the patronage of the Education Training Board (ETB). The primary school was one of 29 schools involved in a pilot consultation process in the diocese…
Ruadhán Jones and Chai Brady There are mixed feelings in the West after Pope Francis announced the effective merger of four dioceses in the archdiocese of Tuam, the largest diocesan shake up in Ireland since 1111AD. The diocese of Killala and Tuam will now be headed by one bishop, Archbishop Francis Duffy, while Bishop Kevin…
An RTÉ Investigates programme on Ireland’s abortion laws made a “total mockery” of public service broadcasting and has left many pro life supporters angry, says the Pro Life Campaign (PLC). The Pro Life Campaign called for a special Oireachtas committee to examine RTÉ’s editorial bias following the “highly partisan” documentary that aired on Monday night.…
A lack of resources is “hindering” synodal outreach to young people, those on the margins and others, a new submission from two Western dioceses has warned. While there is a general desire to be a more welcoming Church, in a new synodal submission, the dioceses of Clonfert and Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora have said a…
Ecclesiastical structures are only useful if they allow our parishes to be vibrant places where people encounter God, writes Michael Kelly While all eyes were on the cabinet reshuffle of Taoiseach Simon Harris, officials in Rome were preparing to announce details of the Pope’s reshuffle of sorts of the Irish ecclesiastical landscape. While Ireland has…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones
Michael Kelly