Benedict XVI’s private secretary to return to home diocese According to a German newspaper report, Pope Francis ordered Archbishop Georg Gänswein to leave the Vatican and return to Germany by the end of June. The longtime private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI has been told to return to his home diocese of Freiburg in southwest…
Irish farmers have been “singled out” by plans that Government is considering that could see up to 65,000 dairy cows a year culled so as to bring the agricultural sector into line with climate targets. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Birr, Co. Offaly, parish priest Fr Michael O’Meara said that farmers are “good stewards”…
Not that long ago people would have been amazed and puzzled at the way some elements in society today are going ballistic over gender. Gender Wars (Channel 4, Tuesday) tried to get to grips with the issue, but I suspect viewers were still amazed and puzzled. The main focus was on philosophy lecturer Kathleen Stock…
Pope has named two-thirds of cardinals eligible to elect his successor Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the retired archbishop of Naples, celebrated his 80th birthday on June 2 and, consequently, became ineligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. The cardinal’s aging out left the College of Cardinals with 121 clerics under the age of…
Dear Editor, Mr Ruadhán Jones wrote on the historic (but unminuted) negotiations currently taking place between Mary Immaculate College and the University of Limerick [The Irish Catholic – May 18, 2023]. In that article, concerns were expressed about the Church in Ireland’s ability to prepare teachers for Catholic schools if a Catholic third level presence…
Diocese faces challenge of aging clergy, bishop warns The diocese of Kildare and Leighlin is “challenged” by the aging demographic of its priests, Bishop Denis Nulty has warned. In his 10 years as bishop, Dr Nulty said he has buried 19 priests and ordained just two for the diocese. “Doing the sums, 20 priests dying…
Last week the National Symphony Orchestra and Royal Irish Academy of Music announced a joint venture entitled ‘The NSO Concerto Project’. While that may be a slight misnomer, the idea behind the enterprise is, and hopefully will continue to be, a fruit bearing amalgamation. Under the baton of Gavin Maloney, the inaugural event had four…
Deacon Frank Browne In my local parish we are preparing for the feast of Corpus Christi, when we plan to involve all the children who made their Holy Communion recently. But what does it mean for us when we receive Holy Communion at Mass or venerate the Blessed Sacrament? Perhaps it can mean many things…
Dublin now has the lowest percentage of Catholics in the Republic, according to census data released this week. The Central Statistics Office revealed that just over half – 53% – of Dubliners ticked the ‘Catholic’ box in the 2022 census of population. Overall, the figures reveal that just 69% of Irish people now describe themselves…
The Irish bishops’ conference has released new sexual education resources to help teachers present Catholic teaching on RSE in secondary schools. The move comes after the Minster for Education signed off on a controversial new curriculum for social, personal and health education (SPHE), which includes relationship and sexual education (RSE). A final draft of the…