An Irish priest who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in February, has completed a 550km journey from the top to the bottom of Ireland raising almost €220,000 to aid research into the condition. Dublin-based priest, Fr Tony Coote said the disease was a “very degenerating and difficult illness” but rather than complain about…
Unionists need to take their “heads out of the sand” and accept that a soon-to-be Catholic majority in the North of Ireland will pave the way for a reunification of the island, a prominent Irish priest has said. Fermanagh priest and well-known civil rights activist, Fr Joe McVeigh, said that in accordance with recent census…
The International Federation of Catholic Universities’ (IFCU), an organisation of over 200 Catholic universities throughout the world, has elected its first female president. At the conclusion of the 26th General Assembly Meeting in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, last week Dr Isabel Capeloa Gil was elected as the organisation’s new president. She is the Rector of the…
Walkers from all over Ireland are taking part in the annual nine-day Walk to Knock to raise money for chronically hungry children in South Sudan and other countries where global hunger charity, Mary’s Meals provides school feeding programmes. Five groups walking under the banner ‘Step By Step To Feed The Next Child’, will set out…
Garda Superintendent Thomas Murphy spoke to our journalist Colm Fitzpatrick about the travel arrangements for people wanting to see Pope Francis next month for the World Meeting of Families.
A new government initiative promoting resilience among students offers “nothing new” and may be a red herring, an Irish school chaplain has said. The comments come in the wake of the July 20 launch of the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice 2018-2023, which aims to deliver a national training programme to support wellbeing…
The national Marian shrine at Knock has dismissed claims that the Church has taken over local bed and breakfasts ahead of the Pope’s visit leading to cancellations for would-be pilgrims. Elphin parishioner Dorothy Burns (53), told The Irish Catholic she had made the reservation in Knock’s Drumhouse B&B on the hunch that the Pope would…
A prominent pro-life group has condemned politicians who a signed an “outrageous” letter calling on the UK government to legalise the killing of Northern Ireland’s unborn babies. The Northern Irish group, Precious Life, said that the letter to Prime Minister Theresa May and her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar which was coordinated by Labour MP Stella…
Colm Fitzpatrick explores the power of home care The benefits of getting older are manifold and range from having more space for leisure to spending more time with family, but like any process, ageing is often accompanied with some crucial and difficult problems. One of the most common complications about getting older is an…
The Irish Church must take decisive action to avoid Catholics drifting into “benign indifference”, a leading sociologist has said. The comments come in response to a new survey carried out by Hodder Faith and Home for Good which revealed that British adults aged 18-24 are most likely to agree that being an atheist or non-religious…