Questions of Faith It’s becoming more and more popular nowadays for people to opt for cremation instead of burial. There are plenty of reasons why this has become the norm: it’s cheaper than a traditional funeral; non-religious don’t want to be buried in a graveyard; some choose it because of their phobia of waking up…
A Catholic grammar school has reached new heights after all of its A-Level students attained A*-C grades in three or more subjects. Last week, Ballymena’s St Louis Grammar learned that their 162 Upper Sixth pupils achieved the spectacular results, marking another significant year for the top school in the North. The top two achievers were…
BREAKING NEWS The conviction of Cardinal George Pell has been upheld after the Supreme Court in Victoria dismissed his appeal today. In a 2-1 ruling, the court rejected the Australian prelate’s appeal of a unanimous jury verdict in December that Pope Francis’ former finance minister was guilty of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne’s…
The Pope’s representative in Ireland has poured cold water on speculation that Diarmuid Martin could soon be replaced as Archbishop of Dublin. Dr Martin – who is due to tender his resignation on turning 75 in April next year – has hinted on several occasions that he would like to go early. Ahead of the…
Following the announcement of the latest summer appointments, it has emerged that a Down and Connor clergyman has become the youngest parish priest in Ireland. Fr Conor McGrath, 32, has been appointed as the parish priest of Glenravel and the administrator of The Braid. In addition, he will also provide chaplaincy services to schools in…
A Belfast parish priest has said the local community is devastated as news emerged on Tuesday that Nóra Quoirin’s body had been found. Nóra – whose mother Meabh is from the parish of St Brigid’s in South Belfast and was baptised there – went missing on a family holiday in Malaysia over a week ago.…
Regardless of what results young people have received in their Leaving Cert exams this week, it’s important to remember that grades don’t define one’s worth, an Irish chaplain has said. Tens of thousands of students received their Leaving Certificate results on Tuesday and around 58,787 people are awaiting the release of CAO offers today. Speaking…
Questions of Faith Plenty of secular accounts pertaining to morality co-exist in the world today – some hold that objective moral values are real; others that moral actions can be reduced down to evolutionary behaviour; and many that morals don’t exist at all but have been created to allow for a functioning society. In opposition…
Parishioners in Derry and Tyrone donned their hiking books this month as they faced a daunting ascent in the Donegal mountains. As a fund-raiser for Derry’s St Eugene’s Church, Glenock, the parish of Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone, organised a sponsored climb of Mount Errigal. The two groups of climbers rose to the challenge. The “early birds”…
Tens of thousands of young faithful descended on Bosnia and Herzegovina last week to celebrate Medjugorje’s Youth Festival which is now in its 30th year. It comes after a ban on pilgrimages organised by Catholic dioceses and parishes was lifted under a papal decree on May 12. Earlier this year Pope Francis gave the Vatican…