Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick led the tributes to Prof. Michael Hayes, former president of Mary Immaculate College (MIC), who died on Holy Saturday after a short illness. Bishop Leahy, chairman of MIC’s governing authority, said Prof. Hayes had approached his role there with untiring zeal. “With a deep conviction that Catholic education has to…
Maynooth deanery offer Confession in empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre An initiative of the Maynooth deanery saw an empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre become a buzz of sacred activity on Holy Saturday, with local priests answering Pope Francis’ call for outreach. From noon until 5.30pm the bare retail unit was transformed…
Mags Gargan examines a social enterprise project which is tackling both food waste and food poverty In Ireland an estimated one million tonnes of food is wasted annually, while 1 in 8 people are suffering from food poverty. Within communities across the country businesses are throwing away perfectly good food, while local charities are struggling…
Over 1,000 young people, who are currently participating or have received the Pope John Paul II Award in the last ten years, gathered at Knock Shrine on April 5 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the award. When the award was launched in Derry in 2006 by the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, it was…
Mags Gargan talks to the new Pope John Paul II Award Co-ordinator Over 1,000 young people gathered in Knock Shrine last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Pope John Paul II Award. This was just a small portion of the over 20,000 teenagers who have completed the award since it was set up…
A group of former republican prisoners has asked the bishops to clarify the rules around placing Irish tricolours on coffins inside churches during funerals in the North. Flags and paramilitary trappings have been banned since the former Bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly took the decision in 1987 when shots were fired over the coffin…
Priests could have a role in sharing sensitive information which would help families left grieving after the Troubles, the Primate of All Ireland has said. Archbishop Eamon Martin told a Mass for the Disappeared in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh, there are people on all sides who carry secrets, “memories of their own involvement in…
Irish bishops have emphasised the need for the Government to use every effort to protect religious minorities from persecution, following the latest bombings targeting Christians in Egypt. Bishop John McAreavey, Chair of the Bishops Council for Justice and Peace, said the bombings at two Coptic Christian churches in Cairo on Palm Sunday were “clearly a…
Michael Higgins It is a story of two Maries and their personal courage over against intransigent authority that is as much inspiring as it is dispiriting. Marie-Julienne Farrington, now deceased, was a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, its international leader, a university president’s advisor on spiritual matters, a French translator and a social activist. …
Mags Gargan visits the Sanctuary meditation and mindfulness centre, to learn about a programme helping struggling teens to find peace “I’m bored.” Two words any parent dreads, whether your offspring is a young child or a teenager. However, according to Caitriona McColgan, young people need to sit in their own boredom for the world to…