Despite its enduring popularity, the Lenten period is sorely misunderstood by many, Chai Brady writes It has been joked that the Lenten period never ended last year as the rolling pandemic restrictions meant everyone having to make tough sacrifices, but Lent is much more than just forgoing pleasurable activities, food or drink – which it…
Direct provision compounds the suffering of asylum seekers who were torture victims, writes Chai Brady Torture has always been an horrific reality for humanity and to this day atrocities are being committed against people for nothing other than their faith, political belief, ethnicity and sexuality in many parts of the world. Some of the victims…
Assisted suicide reflects a “failure of compassion on the part of society” the Catholic bishops have warned in their submission to the Oireachtas committee reviewing legislation that, if passed, would legalise euthanasia. Good palliative care not assisted suicide “offers terminally-ill people the best possibility of achieving ‘a dignified and peaceful end of life’,” the Church leaders…
Parishes in North may open for Mass early next month Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan has said that it would be “difficult to justify” Catholics not being allowed to gather for Mass for Holy Week and Easter saying “Our churches are probably safer than shopping malls and supermarkets – there is less movement and more…
At a “tense time” in the North, Bishop Donal McKeown has called for everyone in “leadership positions to ask for calm rather than confrontation” after a man was arrested at a memorial for the victims of the Ormeau Road massacre in Belfast – a loyalist attack the arrested man was seriously injured in. Speaking to The Irish…
Role of youth, women and inter-diocesan relations are some of the focuses of the future, writes Chai Brady Changes are coming in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly and although some of them may be “painful” there will be discussion and dialogue, with everyone facing it together as a Church community. Following a statement in…
Exclusive Myanmar missionary warns poor will suffer most A missionary in Myanmar has warned of imminent “disaster” after the military seized power in a coup this week. The country’s Church leaders have appealed for calm. “All I wanted to do was cry,” the missionary told The Irish Catholic. The missionary – who spoke on condition of…
Police in Northern Ireland are investigating a sectarian hate crime on a Catholic Church in Derry which has been decried as “disgusting” and “disgraceful”. A door of St Mary’s Church in Limavady as well as a standing crucifix on the church grounds were defaced with graffiti which included the names of loyalist paramilitary organisations such…
The Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) has welcomed Pope Francis’ establishment of a ‘World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly’ which will take place for the first time on July 25 this year. Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam, patron of the CGA, welcomed the move saying the Pope is “highlighting the very important role…
Discerning a life in the priesthood or religious life is a win-win whether they work out or not, Chai Brady hears A lot of young men in Ireland are afraid to put themselves forward for the priesthood or religious life and it may come from a fear of commitment or failure, according to the vocations director…