Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, has announced plans to double its own Housing First work this year. The charity, which was an early adopter of the internationally recognised approach to ending homelessness that focuses on providing both housing and intensive case management simultaneously, is set to expand its delivery of the…
Repealing the Eighth Amendment would give politicians “exclusive power” in relation to future legislation on abortion, according to a Pro-Life campaign spokesperson. Caroline Simons, the legal consultant to the Pro Life Campaign, said that the public are being asked to trust politicians who “change their mind on a whim”. Speaking at a conference in Dublin…
Lourdes: 160 years of healing Fr Robert McCabe reflects on his Lourdes pilgrimage experiences A visual harmony of architecture impresses pilgrim and tourist alike who make their way to the Grotto of Massabielle. The spires, mosaics and statues which surround the golden cross and crown provide a welcome relief and spiritual focus after the distraction…
Members of Ireland’s largest association of GPs said they were “outraged” by the lack of engagement from the Minister for Health in relation to proposed abortion legislation, which would make it a GP led service. “The NAGP (National Association of General Practitioners) strongly objects to the assumption that this will be a GP led service.…
Pope Francis received a victim’s letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the Pope’s recent insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the cover-up, the letter’s author and members of Francis’s own sex- abuse commission have told the Associated Press (AP).…
Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okkolo, pictured at St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry during a ceremony in which he gave a blessing to babies and children from the parish. Photo: Stephen Latimer
Sacristan Birdie McLoughlin, Fr Paddy Mooney PP, and Pastoral Council members Breda Keaveney and Padraic Keady pose outside their church to publicise their ‘Drive Thru’ Ashes initiative from 8 am – 9.30 am at Glenamuddy Church on Ash Wednesday, February 14. It aims to facilitate people who are sick, advanced in years, or with very…
The president of the German Bishops’ Conference has said that he could foresee a situation where priests would bless same-sex couples. Cardinal Reinhard Marx told the Bavarian State Broadcasting’s radio service that “there can be no rules” about this question. Rather, the decision of whether a homosexual union should receive the Church’s blessing should be…
Fr Bernard Healy Every January, the clergy of my Diocese gather for our annual assembly. We spend three days away together for renewal and ongoing formation. Until recently this was a Priests’ Assembly, but now we have been enriched by the presence of our Permanent Deacons. We take those three days to listen to…