Catholic priests have added their voices to calls for the Government not to forget Northern nationalists as talks on a Brexit deal intensify. “It’s of crucial importance to us that there be no border,” Fr Maurice McMorrow of the Diocese of Kilmore told The Irish Catholic. “We don’t want to see a mishmash of a…
A collapse in Church credibility and the absence of a shared vision of a ‘common good’ for society were key factors leading to the repeal of Ireland’s constitutional protections of the unborn, one of the world’s leading philosophers has said. Speaking at Notre Dame University’s High Powers Conference, Prof. Alasdair MacIntyre said that many in…
Pope Francis’ visit to the Capuchin Day Centre on Dublin’s Church Street this summer was a special moment for Threshold, the homelessness prevention charity, according to Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty. “The papal visit – the fact that the Pope went to Brother Kevin’s place, a Capuchin just round the corner from here is absolutely key…
One of the most remarkable things about Trócaire, according to Seán Farrell, director of the charity’s international division, is its reach. Best known to Irish people as the Irish bishops’ relief and development agency, the organisation is part of the Church’s global relief and development agency Caritas Internationalis, second in scale only to the Red…
Death comes to us all, and in recent years there’s been an ongoing debate about how we can die with dignity. For the Irish Hospice Foundation, a key part of the answer is bringing hospice-style care to wider society. “In 1986 we were formed by an inspirational lady, Dr Mary Redmond, the late Dr Mary…
If liberalism is in trouble nowadays, it’s not because it’s failed but because it’s succeeded. That, at any rate is the theory of US academic Patrick Deneen, whose latest book, Why Liberalism Failed, has been making ripples since it was published early this year and who spoke last week in Dublin’s Notre Dame-Newman Centre for…
As the deadline for a deal on Britain’s controversial exit from the European Union looms, border parishioners are anxious about the uncertainty, priests have warned. Clones-based Msgr Richard Mohan told The Irish Catholic this week that there was “concern” in the parish, which is on the border between Co. Monaghan and Co. Fermanagh. He said…
One of Ireland’s leading Islamic clerics has called for the release of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian who has been tried for blasphemy. “I call for her release and I believe that she should be released. This is the right thing to do according to Islamic teaching,” Shayk Dr Umar Al-Qadri told The Irish Catholic.…
Ireland should keep its constitutional ban on blasphemy for the sake of social cohesion, especially at a time when Ireland’s demographic and religious landscape is changing, a leading priest-sociologist has said. Arguing that blasphemy, if not legally prohibited, “can be a serious source of disintegration in our society”, Mayo-based Jesuit Fr Micheál MacGréil, says that…
West Dublin parishes have described as “shocking” the decision to close the capital’s largest direct provision centre, which could leave as many as 80 people homeless, and have urged the Government to reverse the decision. The 225 residents of Clondalkin Towers were told this month that the centre’s management company Fazyard Ltd., is pulling out…