Pope Francis has recently urged priests to keep their homilies short, suggesting a maximum of ten minutes to ensure their message is clear. Speaking during a General Audience, the pontiff said, “After 8 minutes, preaching gets dispersive and no one understands. Never go over 10 minutes, ever! This is very important.” In response, three Irish…
Illiana Ochoa Bravo The Bishop of Elphin and Apostolic Administrator of Achonry has said he is praying for the safety of the Syrian people and for a peaceful transition of power. Bishop Kevin Doran said on social media that he’s thinking of Johanna Ibrahim, his fellow student at the Irish College in Rome and the…
The performance of Catholic schools in the North, following the appearance of 7 Catholic schools on a recently published list of the 10 best schools in Northern Ireland, has been hailed by the Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown who said that in spite of the negative commentary directed at Catholic schools and Faith-based education “those…
Fans of the pop star Gwen Stefani were left “shocked” after she recently announced that she has teamed up with the Catholic prayer app Hallow for its Advent prayer challenge. Ms Stefani (55) was raised Catholic and reportedly remained practicing throughout her music career. However, the partnership between the singer and Hallow “shocked” her fans, according…
The community of Abbeyside, Co. Waterford, has come together to save the ancient Bell Tower of St Augustine’s Church, which has stood on the edge of Dungarvan Harbour since 1450. Water seeping into the 574-year-old tower threatened its structural integrity, leaving parishioners and parish priest Fr Ned Hassett facing a €70,000 repair bill. Fr Hassett…
Youth 2000 recently celebrated their National Christmas Retreat at the Dominican College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, with 520 young people aged 18 to 35 attending. The weekend featured workshops by Holy Family Mission, NET Ministries, and Pure in Heart, along with talks on topics like The Creed by Fr Stephen Kennedy. “The women’s vocation workshop was…
Fundamental to our faith is our belief in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural end, because all life comes from God. This eternal truth informs all we do. In the secular world there is no belief in God, and, for many, little belief in the sanctity of human life. Those who have…
It’s almost 40 years since Jeffrey Dudgeon successfully changed the law in Northern Ireland. And it took courage as he was living in real fear, under an unjust law: his house had been raided, and he had been arrested and interrogated by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. His crime? Dudgeon was a gay man and homosexual…
Ennis Parish celebrated the centenary of two parishioners last weekend. Mary Cahir was born on December 8, 1924, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Mary Galvin was born on December 6 in the same year. They are both still active Mass goers. Fr Tom Ryan PP said the parish has “quite [a] number of…
An independent major external review has said that “the Church has a good story to tell about what it has implemented and achieved in relation to the safeguarding of children over the last 20 years…and “it is now regarded by some commentators as an exemplar in the Catholic Church globally”. The review went on to…
Renata Milán Morales
Brandon Scott
Nuala O’Loan
Martina Purdy
Renata Steffens