A leading politician – who once claimed he was indoctrinated at his Catholic grammar school – has been spearheading a highly controversial bill in the north of Ireland. Eoin Tennyson, an Alliance Party MLA at Stormont, wants to ban conversion practices related to sexuality or gender. Some time ago, Mr Tennyson, a gay man, shared…
The President of the Legion of Mary has welcomed the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, recalling an address in which the American broadcaster-bishop called the Dublin-founded movement “my favourite group”. Sheen was declared Blessed at a Mass in St Louis on Thursday, September 24. Declan Lawlor, President of the Legion of Mary said he…
An uncompromising challenge for parishes amid priestly shortages My this stage of the year, whatever “clerical changes” there have been will have taken effect across Irish dioceses, and those most directly impacted will be adjusting to their new or their amended circumstances. Such changes have generally become less newsworthy throughout the country, reminding us of…
The Bishop of Down and Connor has paid tribute to the men and women who built St Michael the Archangel Parish in West Belfast during the “darkest days” of the Troubles. Speaking at the Golden Jubilee Mass on Saturday evening, Bishop Alan McGuckian said the parish church still bears “visible signs” of the decades-long conflict,…
On Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3, a special event will be taking place at De Montfort House and the Morning Star Hostel in Dublin’s north inner city. The relics of the St Thérèse of Lisieux and her canonised parents St Louis and St Zélie Martin will be visiting the facilities to mark the…
The canonisation Cause of First World War chaplain Fr Willie Doyle SJ is set to move to Rome following the formal conclusion of its diocesan phase next month. The Irish phase will close during Solemn Vespers at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, at 4pm on October 18, after which evidence gathered by the…
The now-ubiquitous terms “reproductive health” and “reproductive freedom” have contributed mightily to a slaughter of the innocents in these United States. The death toll from that massacre is now greater than the estimated 60 million civilian lives erased by area bombing, genocide, starvation, and disease during World War II. If the victor of D-Day, Dwight…
As the illumination of Belfast City Hall in support of the ‘International Safe Abortion Day’, which was to take place last Monday, September 28, was put on hold, Precious Life held a march from Donegall Place to the City Hall carrying lights in a public procession for unborn children. While marching, the crowd were chanting “we…
Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin and other Church leaders are offering prayers to communities closely affected by the Lough Neagh pollution and ecological crisis, “including farming and fishing communities, local businesses and families.” In a statement published after the Church leaders’ visit to Cranfield, on the shore of Lough Neagh in Co. Down, the Church…
Archbishop Eamon Martin has issued a joint statement with Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell on the situation in Drumcree, calling on Christians in Northern Ireland to think about how they can be good neighbours to each other. “We cannot think of any time in the last thirty years when this simple message…
Martina Purdy
George Weigel