Draft working document sets out proposals ahead of National Synodal Assembly A draft working document setting out proposals for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Ireland, seen by The Irish Catholic, has been prepared ahead of the National Synodal Assembly, which takes place in Gormanston, Co. Meath, on October 17. The document, marked ‘draft’…
Catholics need to move from inherited or “cultural” faith towards a deeper personal commitment to Christ, foreign-born priests ministering in Ireland have told The Irish Catholic. Fr Anselm Emechebe MSP, a Nigerian priest who has served in Ireland since 2009, said the challenge is for Catholics to take greater personal responsibility for a faith often…
The Church should welcome everyone who comes through its doors and that is the true spirit of inclusivity, says internationally recognised psychotherapist Stella O’Malley. But, she says, having seen a draft set of proposals from the Irish Synod Working Group, the Church is “cheerleading practices that risk serious harm to vulnerable people. It should be…
Indecent graffiti and offensive writing have been sprayed onto the stonework of a church complex in Bundoran by a group of unidentified youths. The community has expressed outrage at the incident, and an investigation is ongoing. Church representatives believe the damage was caused by a group of youths who gather on the church grounds in the evenings. The…
The former PSNI Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Baroness Nuala O’Loan has welcomed the news that two Belfast priests shot dead by the British Army have had their cases opened for potential recognition of sainthood by the bishop. “I am so very pleased to hear that Bishop McGuckian has initiated the process ‘for the cause of saints’ and…
The Church must stop acting as though it is “on the back foot” and have greater confidence in what the faith offers society, Fr Patrick Cahill told hundreds gathered in Maynooth for CHARIS Ireland’s National Day of Renewal. The gathering at St Patrick’s College brought together Catholics from across the country for a day of…
The future of the Irish Church Last week we argued that the Irish Church is managing decline rather than deciding what it wants to become. The question left hanging was what a real answer would look like. What we have actually done about the collapse in priest numbers can nearly be accounted for in three…
Religious Education in Irish schools should provide a broader, “more robust interfaith and religiously pluralist curricula”, Dr Peter Admirand, professor of Theology and director of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue at Dublin City University, has argued in an opinion article published by the Irish Examiner. Nicholas Cuddihy, Education Nation podcast host, has said that Dr…
Ihe most popular version of the Irish republican song, The Foggy Dew, was penned by a priest at St Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast, which is about to mark its 160th birthday. It was one of the many fascinating facts I learned on a recent tour, led by local historian Steven Corr. St Peter’s was forty years…
There is something poetic about Wendell Berry’s death at the age of 92, the day before the launch of the 2026 Season of Creation at a Mass celebrated in Castel Gandolfo by Pope Leo XIV. Wendell Berry, the legendary Kentucky farmer, poet, writer, and conservationist, spent his life preaching the themes that the Season of…
Renata Steffens
Martina Purdy
Breda O'Brien