Parishioners and community members are paying respects online for beloved Galway priest Fr Martin McNamara, who died on May 1. Fr McNamara was ordained in 1962, and served in various parishes until settling as parish priest in Kiltullagh, Killimordaly and Clooncagh from 1986 to 2022. Killimordaly Hurling Club issued a statement on Facebook, where they…
Bishop celebrates Clonfert College students and staff at St Joseph’s day celebration
Bishop Michael Duignan of Clonfert, Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora celebrated St Joseph’s Day at Clonfert College in Ballinasloe last week, where he congratulated recipient of the Founding Vision Award Phillip Costello. Clonfert College is the result of an amalgamation between two former Co. Galway secondary schools, Garbally College and Ardscoil Mhuire. The event marked the…
Israeli airstrikes kill 7 in southern Lebanon as a Catholic convent is bulldozed
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least seven people and wounded others on Saturday while the Israeli military demolished parts of a Catholic convent in a border village, officials said. Israel’s military on Saturday issued a new warning for residents of nine southern villages to evacuate. Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group have kept…
USCIRF hearing: Children ‘bear the brunt’ of international religious freedom violations
Children “bear the brunt” of international religious freedom violations, panelists at an April 30 hearing of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said. Vicky Hartzler, chair of USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan US federal government commission that monitors religious freedom around the globe, said the group is “deeply concerned about countries where governments restrict religious…
A faithful perspective on AI’s ethical formation
Fr Brendan McGuire considers the intersection between ethics and industry Located in sunny Silicon Valley amongst the world’s biggest tech giants and startups looking to make a name for themselves, parish priest and former tech executive Fr Brendan McGuire contemplates the future of AI through a lens of faith. For the Irish native, who graduated…
‘A moment of opportunity’ for Killala, says newly-installed bishop
“We are living at a moment of opportunity,” said Archbishop Francis Duffy during his installation as Bishop of Killala on April 26. “Structures and processes may change, but the mission remains constant: to proclaim the Good News of the risen Lord.” In his homily, delivered at St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, Co. Mayo during the…
New York Catholic bishops issue new guidebook on making end-of-life decisions
In light of a recent law legalising assisted suicide in New York, Catholic bishops urged Catholics to make end-of-life decisions prayerfully and with guidance from the Church. The updated pamphlet, “Now and at the Hour of Our Death,” is designed “to simply explain the moral principles of Catholic teaching with regard to end-of-life decision-making and…
German cardinal instructs priests to facilitate same-sex couple blessings
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who has served as archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany since 2008, has instructed the priests and full-time pastoral staff in the archdiocese to introduce the controversial handout “Blessing Gives Strength to Love” as the basis of pastoral care. Priests who do not want to carry out such blessing celebrations for…
CBM event brings global eye-health experts to Dublin
Christian Blind Mission (CBM) Ireland is inviting Irish eye-health practitioners to learn about global disparities in eye-care at their April 21 event at Rotunda Hospital, where ophthalmologists, optometrists, and ophthalmic nurses from around the world will share their experiences practicing in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and discuss Ireland’s role in the eye-care field abroad.…
Churches worldwide joined Pope Leo’s prayer vigil for peace amid ongoing global conflicts
Several bishops’ conferences around the world have echoed Pope Leo XIV’s call to pray for peace on April 11. During his “urbi et irbi” (“to the city and the world”) message on Easter Sunday, the Holy Father called for a prayer vigil for peace to be held Saturday at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.…











