Irish convents formed the “backbone of Irish Catholic society” for centuries, but they have been largely ignored, an Irish historian has said. Convents and the women religious in them were “hugely significant” to the development of the Church and Irish State, Dr Gillian O’Brien told The Irish Catholic. Dr O’Brien is leading a project to…
by Paul Senz One of the challenges we Catholics face is the way in which our liturgical calendar almost becomes like white noise in the background. There is such consistency in our liturgical year that we often don’t give much thought to the changing of the seasons, the feasts, the memorials, the solemnities, as they…
Dublin’s RDS was packed for the Divine Mercy Conference that took place over the weekend after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19. At the closing Mass, Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell thanked all those who attended and encouraged them to resist the temptation facilitated by social media to “speak ill of another”. “We live in…
Missionary injured by land mine has foot amputated An Italian-born Catholic priest has undergone numerous gruelling surgeries, eventually losing his foot, after he sustained injuries in a land mine explosion in the Central African Republic (CAR). The Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN) reported that Fr Norberto Pozzi,…
by Kate Scanlon The FBI is facing scrutiny after a leaked memo suggested some “radical traditionalist” Catholics pose threats of racial or ethnically motivated violence. The memo has since been retracted by the bureau, a spokesperson told OSV News. Robert A. Destro, a professor of law at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of…
by Junno Arocho Esteves A series of deadly raids by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and attacks on Jewish civilians in the first month of the new year have made the goal of a lasting peace in the Holy Land seemingly unattainable. The January 26 raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, which…
The Canadian government has introduced legislation to delay by one year plans to include mental illness among the list of conditions eligible for the country’s assisted suicide program. The assisted suicide law – called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) – excludes Canadians from eligibility whose only medical condition is mental illness. In 2021 lawmakers excluded…
There was a full house in Trinity College Dublin for a talk on the life of St Titus Brandsma, who was killed by the Nazis for speaking out against anti-Jewish laws. Dr Fernando Millán Romeral O.Carm., former prior general of St Brandsma’s Carmelite congregation, explored the saint’s battle for truth and freedom in his February…
‘Pope’s ministry is for life’, says Pope Francis Pope Francis addressed once again the question of whether he will resign the papacy in two conversations with Jesuit priests in Africa this month. “I believe that the pope’s ministry is ad vitam. I see no reason why it should not be so,” the Pope said February…
Dear Editor, Dublin City Centre is in a sorry state of affairs. Reading your front page [The Irish Catholic – February 9, 2023] brought home the challenges facing our inner city churches. Anyone who has been out in Dublin, particularly in the evening, can see first hand the homelessness and drugs epidemic that is causing…