An updated version of the Confirmation Pledge aimed at helping young people avoid new forms of addictive behaviours during adolescence has been welcomed by the Catholic Primary School Management Association (CPSMA). Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary of the CPSMA, said the updated pledge is “a brand new refresh of a very…
Baroness Nuala O’Loan has condemned last week’s violence in Ballymena as “terrible, inexcusable and unjustifiable” following attacks that targeted immigrant communities. The attacks began following an alleged attempted rape of a young girl in Ballymena by two 14-year-old boys who appeared in court with a Romanian interpreter on Monday a week ago. Soon after, houses…
Practising a religious faith boosts hope, resilience, and wellbeing according to major new research, confirming the findings of previous studies reported in this paper. The new study comes from Harvard University, and commenting on it one of Ireland’s leading psychiatrists, Professor Patricia Casey told this paper: “Basically what the Church is teaching is actually common…
Ireland will be nationally re-consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Sunday June 22 at Knock Shrine, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore has announced in a pastoral letter. The re-consecration marks the 350th anniversary of the first apparition of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque. Ireland was the first country…
More than 370 complaints expressing concern over new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) content were received by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office last year, according to a new report. SPHE includes sex education. The Ombudsman stated in its annual report that the complaints were part of a “campaign”. However, Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan told…
The President of Ireland has congratulated a Jesuit charity for its long-standing commitment to justice and the poor even when members became “targets of State and non-State violence” and recalled his own encounters with Jesuits who were later murdered. President Michael D. Higgins said that Jesuit projects of “literacy, cooperation and gender have been transformative” in…
Exorcists are reporting a sharp increase in people asking for a solemn exorcism and deliverance ministry, Chai Brady hears A well- known US exorcist has warned the Irish people that the widespread abandonment of the Faith is exposing individuals and the nation to the influence of demonic forces. In a wide-ranging interview with The Irish…
A leading professor in the sociology of religion has said that the Church in Ireland has a “great opportunity” to bring the message of the Gospel and Christianity in an attractive way to new generations who “search for meaning” online. Speaking to The Irish Catholic after the release of an Amárach poll showing a disconnect…
“Soon the sun will set” — said Benjamin. “Is that prophecy? No, it’s merely an assertion of faith in the consistency of events.” In A Canticle for Leibowitz, the post-apocalyptic novel by Walter M. Miller Jr, such grim ‘consistency’ refers to humanity’s habit of circling back to self-destruction. Knowledge, once rediscovered after nuclear holocaust, is…
There are hopes spreading that the newly elected Pope Leo XIV will visit Ireland, particularly to the North as a proposed visit from Pope Francis was shelved in 2018 when he came for the World Meeting of Families. Writing in this week’s paper acclaimed journalist and columnist with The Irish Catholic Martina Purdy said there…