The Catholic faith is the greatest gift any mother could give her child, according to a new inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Speaking at the induction ceremony, 12-time All-Star and former National League Rookie of the Year Mike Piazza thanked his mother “for the greatest gift a mother could give a child, the…
Greg Daly
Reduce ethnic Masses to stop ghettoisation – psychiatrist
Masses for specific ethnic groups should be reduced in the interests of integration, a leading psychiatrist has suggested. Questioning the wisdom of Dublin’s Polish community having its own church – St Audeon’s Church on High Street – Prof. Patricia Casey told The Irish Catholic she thinks it would be healthier if “there would be no…
Knock documentary opens in Irish cinemas
A new documentary film on Knock and its apparition will open in Irish cinemas on August 26. Strange Occurrences in a Small Irish Village looks at all aspects of Knock, from the historic apparition of 1879 to the more than one million pilgrims who visit the shrine annually and the community welcoming the faithful visitors.…
Bishop warns planned assembly is a ‘smokescreen’
The planned Citizens’ Assembly is intended to enable the Government to claim a spurious distance from the consequences of a referendum on repealing Ireland’s constitutional pro-life protections, Elphin’s Bishop Kevin Doran has said. Speaking at an event organised by Family & Life, Dr Doran, said that in his personal view, the assembly would be “nothing…
Citizens’ assembly will be a ‘ridiculous sham’ – McDowell
The planned Citizens’ Assembly on the Constitution is an exercise in “political cowardice” according to Senator Michael McDowell. The former attorney general and one-time Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, said in the Seanad that he was “totally opposed” to the establishment of a citizens’ assembly, describing it as “demeaning in a…
Bishop Nulty calls for ‘re-imagining’ of Pledge to include drugs use
Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare & Leighlin has called for a “re-imagining” of the Pledge to reflect the dangers posed to Irish youth from sports enhancing drugs in addition to alcohol. Addressing members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart during their annual pilgrimage to Knock, Bishop Nulty referred to Ireland’s continuing…
Leading Kerry priest-scholar dies at 89
The renowned priest and academic Msgr Pádraig Ó Fiannachta has died at the age of 89. Born in 1927, the Co. Kerry priest studied in Killarney’s St Brendan’s College before studying Celtic Studies in Maynooth and doing a master’s degree in UCC on the 17th-Century priest and scholar Geoffrey Keating. Ordained in 1953, he spent…
‘Momentum’ of Francis’ reforms will outlast him
Pope’s advisor insists shift in attitude is real
Brexit: an echo of the English Reformation
Greg Daly considers how the UK’s Anglican heritage leaves it uneasy in Europe
Disconnected Catholics may experience God’s reality at Knock – cardinal
Shrines and sanctuaries are increasingly important for Catholics who may feel cut off from parish life, a leading cardinal has said. “In an age when so many people are disconnected from their parishes, the ministry of sanctuaries and shrines takes on a greater importance than ever,” Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley said at a renewal Mass…