Irish charity Ruhama have welcomed the “success of the PSNI” after new figures revealed they rescued 36 potential trafficking victims in the first six months of the 2018/19 financial year. In total 36 victims were rescued in the 2017/18 financial year in the North of Ireland. CEO Sarah Benson told The Irish Catholic that a…
Exclusive Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin has said the Church in Ireland needs to embrace the model of engagement of Pope Francis and think seriously about a national synod or meeting of the Church here. Fresh from the month-long Synod of Bishops in Rome at which the Pontiff appealed for bishops to be more responsive…
Many Catholics would be unaware of the process of a synod, let alone the details of the recently published final document of the synod on youth – but it heralds big changes in Ireland’s Church. Irish Catholics are set to become much better acquainted with synods and synodality, and not just as a distant process…
The Diocese of Clogher plans to engage priests and laity in the coming months in the development of lay-led prayer. Clogher’s Annual General Priests’ Conference in Monaghan, chaired by Diocesan Administrator Msgr Joseph McGuinness, dealt with a variety of organisational matters for diocesan and parish life in the year ahead including lay-led prayer and liturgies…
The Government should focus on tackling anti-Semitism online following what’s been dubbed as the deadliest rampage against the Jewish community in US history, according to the chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland. “If we look at this particular incident in Pittsburgh, unfortunately people who have these mental aberrations their feelings are given vent…
Bishop Donal McKeown has likened Brexit to radical nationalist movements in Germany, France and the US under Donald Trump’s administration, saying the Church’s message is more appealing to “many young people”. The Church’s message focuses “very strongly on the whole idea of reconciliation and healing, it certainly has a huge contribution to make,” he told…
There are hopes the Synod of Bishops will give fresh impetus to resource youth ministry and mirror international youth movements, according to Church youth workers. Following a meeting with Archbishop Eamon Martin and Bishop Donal McKeown in the Vatican, 11 youth ministers discussed the progress of the synod on youth. “One of the big things…
A new poll has revealed 93% of people in the North of Ireland believe both the life of the mother and the unborn child are important. The polling, conducted by ComRes, comes as a bankbench bill aimed to introduce abortion legislation in the North was read in the House of Commons this week. Diana Johnson…
The Church needs to “take risks” on young people and use their “idealism and enthusiasm” to lead evangelisation in Ireland, according to the country’s two representatives at the Synod of Bishops. Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown, told The Irish Catholic that rather than being patronising, and asking “what can we do for young people?” Church…
Carrying Pope Paul VI’s pastoral staff and wearing the blood-stained belt of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, Pope Francis formally recognised them, and five others, as saints of the Catholic Church. Thousands of pilgrims from the new saints’ home countries – Italy, El Salvador, Spain and Germany – were joined by tens of thousands…