“People must remain hopeful” said Fr Richard Gibbons, PP and Rector of Knock Shrine ahead of the Knock Novena taking place from August 13 to 21. “That’s the whole point of the Jubilee year, that we are ‘pilgrims of hope’”, which is also the theme for this year’s Novena. “We’re hopeful in our faith that…
The announcement from Pope Leo that St John Henry Newman will be declared a Doctor of the Church has been celebrated by church leaders. Finally, the saint is to be placed among the most revered teachers in the Catholic tradition. Even James Joyce said that no one has ever written prose like Newman’s. Here in…
Women often sought entry to the Regina Coeli hostel because of domestic violence, homelessness or drug addiction, Chai Brady writes Despite advice from taxpayer-funded investigations, the Government has continued to call for more than €26m from the Legion of Mary to pay into the Mother and Baby Homes redress scheme. When the final report of the…
Last week, I asked whether people should moralise about the personal conduct of those in high places. The Christian view warns against being judgemental, lest we ourselves be judged. On such grounds, I have previously been somewhat sorry for Prince Andrew, once second-in-line to the British throne. Andrew was disgraced for bad behaviour, poor judgement…
The anti-Catholic dialogue and its inaccuracies Dear Editor, it was good to see letters and articles in recent issues of The Irish Catholic in defence of the catholic authorities, including those nuns who ran the Mother and Baby Homes. I feel a strong sense of gratitude to all those people who still come out in…
The recent rise in abortion figures has been sadly predictable but still shocking. In 1998, Prof. Patricia Casey and I organised a conference called ‘5,000 Too Many’. It brought together pro-choice and pro-life people to address the grave situation of 5,000 women having abortions in Britain, and to reduce those numbers by working together. In…
For forty-five years, the Treaty County wandered a barren wasteland of broken dreams, locked out of hurling’s promised land. Nearly half a century of near misses and heartbreak left many on Shannonside with only memories and misery—a proud tradition cast into the wilderness. But on August 18, 2018, all of that was washed away. As…
As Ireland marks 250 years since the birth of The Liberator, Daniel O’Connell, Church leaders have hailed his enduring legacy of peaceful leadership and deep faith. Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry spoke at the commemorations in Cahersiveen, near O’Connell’s birthplace. “Daniel O’Connell was an exceptional leader of the Irish people,” he said. “His total commitment…
With a kind of modest defiance, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, raised, in his right hand, the wood of blackened oak, a cross that was no doubt hidden, many times, under a sleeve or below a floorboard. The penal cross was 300 years old, and, though light as a feather, carried the…
For almost 45 years, pilgrims have come in search of profound spiritual experience and a break from the mundane, writes Michael Kelly The name Medjugorje literally means ‘between mountains’. Mountains hold profound spiritual significance in the Judeo-Christian tradition, serving as sacred spaces where heaven and earth seem to meet, facilitating divine encounters, revelation, and transformation.…
Renata Steffens
Chai Brady
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
Martina Purdy
Michael Kelly