The Church has thrown its support behind an ambitious new film series aimed to energise young Christians and help them tackle doubts they might have about their Faith. The eight-part NUA film series was launched at Dublin’s Gonzaga College last month ahead of the release of census figures that show significant declines in numbers of…
The most striking thing about the 2016 census is how it points to the resilience of Irish Catholic identity, a leading Church number-cruncher has said. According to the census, Catholics now make up 78.3% of Ireland’s population, down from 84.2% five years ago, with the number of Catholics in the country having dropped by 132,000,…
Pro-life campaigners in the North have called on people to push the SDLP to explain why they have suspended three councillors who abstained from voting in a motion that called for women not to be intimidated by “harassment” from anti-abortion campaigners. The Belfast City Council vote, calling for councillors to condemn any such harassment across…
Greg Daly meets the man behind a film series helping young adults wrestle with Christianity Dublin’s Gonzaga College might seem an unlikely place for the launch of an evangelical video series produced by the historically Protestant and highly dynamic Scripture Union (SU) group, but according to Jonny Somerville, presenter of NUA, it made perfect sense.…
Catholic schools and religious education experts have criticised State proposals to remove religious education as a core element in Ireland’s primary school curriculum. Under a consultation document issued by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, no space is explicitly set aside in school curriculum for religious education, in contrast to the current curriculum, introduced…
Venezuela’s bishops have described a Supreme Court decision to eliminate the country’s National Assembly as “morally unacceptable”. Saying Venezuela’s Catholics cannot remain “passive, frightened, or hopeless”, they have called for peaceful protests and civil disobedience to the government of President Nicholas Maduro. The abolition of the assembly, which opposition parties have dominated for over a…
Modern Masses have caused disaster, devastation and schism in the Church, the head of the Vatican’s liturgy department has said. In an address sent to a conference in Germany, Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the Church is currently undergoing a “serious crisis” underestimated by…
Unfounded claims of abuse remain a grave fear for many Irish priests, while clergy often distrust their bishops, according to the minutes of two meetings of the Association of Catholic priests last month. Safeguarding was a central issue at the ACP South meeting, which considered the rights of clergy when faced with allegations. “Solicitors feel…
Following the launch of the American version of Dancing with the Stars, TV tough guy Mr T has said the plans to knock out his dancing competition the same way he beat cancer – with God on his side. Best known for starring in The A Team and Rocky III, Mr T has revealed that…
Irish bishops have been working with their British counterparts to protect the rights of Irish people in Britain, following the country’s decision to leave the European Union. Liam Allmark, public affairs manager for the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, told The Irish Catholic that Bishop Nicholas Hudson, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of…