The Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan has said that one of his hopes for 2026 is that Irish people will become less angry. Speaking to The Irish Catholic the bishop said, “I hope people become less angry in 2026! It might seem like a strange hope but there is too much anger in society. We…
Predictions are always a risky enterprise, since nothing is certain in this life – “we live in no abiding city,” as the Gospel puts it. Yet the world we are entering in 2026 has already been ascertained, in one predominant aspect: Europe is an ageing society. The EU is already the oldest society in the…
More often than not, hurling is not just a pastime; it is an inheritance. Across the country, the GAA is built on the weight of family lines, but in the Carroll household in the village of Coolderry, those threads feel especially tightly stitched. Parish by parish, generation by generation, stories are handed down like heirlooms:…
Exclusive Responding to questions regarding diocesan mergers and episcopal appointments in Ireland the Papal Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor has said that “the reconfiguration of diocesan boundaries is not a matter that affects the Irish Church alone. In the rapidly changing circumstances of society, worldwide, it has become an object of urgent pastoral…
God’s eternal plan has been in place from the very beginning says Fr Dominik Domagala Ecclesiasticus 24:1-2, 8-12 Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 John 1:1-18 What is the central theme of this Sunday’s readings? It doesn’t strike us immediately, but once you look closely it becomes quite clear: each reading points us back to God’s eternal plan…
St Oliver Plunkett was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London on July 1, 1681. He was the last Catholic martyr to die in England. What a way to go. We casually use the phrase, unthinkingly, without pausing to reflect on what it actually entails. To be hung, drawn and quartered was a method of torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of high treason in…
The Iter Europaeum is a pilgrimage of 28 churches in Rome, celebrating the link between the Holy See and the European Union. It was one of four official pilgrimage paths in the city for the jubilee year. Each of the 28 churches is, for historical or cultural reasons, associated with one of the member states…
By Renata Steffens and Pedro Esteva The Year of Hope was marked by many events worldwide. In Ireland, it was not different, as the Irish faithful celebrated the Jubilee Year with nationwide and local events. In addition to those events, Irish Catholics saw a number of other important events taking place. Commemorating the Jubilee of…
The gift of friendship and what it means to be blessed with a friend, has taken a new meaning with the explosion of social media. We might have many virtual friends, but no virtual friendship can ever replace the gift of a real friend in life. The sad irony is that despite us being connected…
Ireland will hold the presidency of the EU from the middle of this year until the end. The presidency is held by EU member-states on a rotating basis for six months at a time each. When the EU was smaller, we got to hold the presidency much more regularly. But with 27 members, we only…
Mary Kenny
Fr Dominik Domagala
Renata Steffens
David Quinn