The Church teaches that ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees, writes Cathal Barry The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when…
This columnist was shocked yet unsurprised to hear that Ireland is on course to become the most obese country in Europe, with Britain, within a decade. The perilous prediction outlined in a study published in The Lancet was reported by various news outlets recently. Irish men already have the highest body mass index (BMI) –…
Former Tipperary hurler and manager Fr Tom Fogarty has said he fails to see how fans could “justify” being entertained by Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) following the shocking death of one of the sport’s rising stars. Joao Carvalho, a 28-year-old Portuguese MMA fighter, died in Dublin where he suffered head injuries competing at the Total…
The director of Limerick’s diocesan synod has said the assembly revealed a desire among participants for a lay-led Church. Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon told The Irish Catholic there was a “clear mandate that this is the laity’s moment in the Church and that we are moving into an era which is really going to be a…
The success of the synod in Limerick was that it listened to people, writes Cathal Barry The decision to convoke a diocesan synod back in September 2014 was a bold move by Limerick’s Bishop Brendan Leahy who at the time was little over a year in office. After all, until last weekend there had not…
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said any suggestion that negotiations for a new government would be held up by discussions on abortion “is astonishing given the lack of support for a referendum that emerged in the recent election”. Sinead Slattery of the PLC said “the feedback from the recent election was that the abortion…
Archbishop Eamon Martin has praised Pope Francis’ new document on the family as being “in tune with the concrete realities of everyday life as lived by married couples and families”. Welcoming the publication of the Pope’s new Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family), the Archbishop of Armagh said “the…
A prominent republican priest has strongly rebuked Bob Geldof’s remarks comparing the leaders of the 1916 Rising to jihadi suicide bombers. Fr Joe McVeigh, who is based in Co. Fermanagh, told The Irish Catholic that the controversial singers’ comparison was “outrageous”. “Normally I do not pay much attention to anything Geldof has to say. He…
Police in the North have launched an investigation after a pro-life campaigner claimed she was “pushed” by a Sinn Féin member at an Easter Rising commemoration. According to The Irish News, Catherine Sewell said she and her husband Ryan were manhandled as they tried to distribute anti-abortion leaflets at the event in Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone,…
Bishop Brendan Leahy has warned that to rebuild the Church there first needs to be “an acknowledgement in humility of its defects”. Speaking ahead of Limerick’s diocesan synod due to take place this weekend, the bishop said the assembly will be an opportunity to take both the good and the bad of Church life and…