Christian married couples should seek to lead cohabiting couples towards marriage, Pope Leo has said in a message to participants in a seminar organised by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in Rome this week. The number of cohabiting couples in Ireland has soared in recent decades from almost zero in the 1990s…
“Lough Derg will not be the hungriest place on Earth this weekend. That will be Gaza,” said Fr Eamonn Conway at the Lough Derg opening Mass last week for the three-day pilgrimage season. Currently only a trickle of food is reaching Gaza. The priest told pilgrims that the constant display of images of starving children and their…
Youth ministry must be active in every parish, according to the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Denis Nulty. Bishop Nulty made the comment after a meeting with youth leaders, to discuss ‘intentional youth ministry’. This followed a gathering organised last month by Bishop Fintan Gavin, when they discussed the role of youth in the Irish…
Pope Leo XIV assured Irish clergy of his continual prayers for vocations in Ireland during an audience in St Peter’s Square, where he met with a delegation of Irish vocation directors, including Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore. Bishop Cullinan, who introduced the delegation to the Pope, called the meeting “a very personal moment.”…
The chair of the Healthcare Chaplaincy Board has voiced concern following a new report from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), stating that over 8,000 patients were left waiting for a hospital bed in Ireland last month. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr John Kelly described the crisis as a failure “across the whole healthcare…
Pope Leo will above all be a bridge-builder, the author of the first book about the new pontiff published in Ireland has predicted. In Christ We Are One: Pope Leo XIV at the Service of Humanity is by Michael Kelly [pictured above], a well-known Vatican expert, former editor of The Irish Catholic and current Director of Public Affairs…
Victims of domestic abuse are more inclined to come forward now, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan, who spoke at An Garda Síochána’s national day for domestic abuse awareness. He highlighted a significant increase in reporting rates in recent years, with over 65,000 domestic abuse-related contacts received in 2024 alone, around 1,250 reports every…
Lough Derg opened its 2025 pilgrimage season with 256 ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ taking part in the first Three Day Pilgrimage of the Jubilee Year, a 20% increase on last year. The famous pilgrimage, renowned for its spiritual intensity, involves fasting, going barefoot, night-long vigil, and continuous prayer — all in pursuit of reflection, renewal, and…
More than 370 complaints expressing concern over new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) content were received by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office last year, according to a new report. SPHE includes sex education. The Ombudsman stated in its annual report that the complaints were part of a “campaign”. However, Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan told…
Senior representatives from RTÉ appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Communications last week, including the head of news and current affairs, Deirdre McCarthy, and Kevin Bakhurst, the Director General. Much of the time recently, RTÉ has found itself embroiled in controversies over expenses, or the amount of money paid to presenters, or presenters doing ‘nixers’,…
Renata Steffens
Renata Milán Morales
Chai Brady
David Quinn