Michael Kelly is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in religious and social affairs. Born and raised in Northern Ireland, he attended the Pontifical University St Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where he studieD social institutional communications. From 2002-2005 he was an Editor in the Central Information Service of Vatican Radio. In this role, he travelled with Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on overseas trips. In 2005, he returned to Dublin to take up the position of Deputy Editor with The Irish Catholic newspaper, succeeding as Editor in 2012. In 2016, he was appointed Consulting Editor of Columba Books, the Dublin-based publisher of religious and spiritual books. He is a regular contributor to programmes on RTÉ, BBC, UTV, CNN and Al Jazeera. He also have extensive experience offering media training and coaching in the voluntary sector. Mr Kelly is a weekly columnist with Ireland’s largest-selling secular newspaper the Irish Independent and has been published in The Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, The Irish News, The Guardian, Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic World Report, the National Catholic Reporter and the National Catholic Register. He writes from Ireland for Catholic News Service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is co-author with Austen Ivereigh of the best-selling book How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice. He is a frequent visitor to the Holy Land and is currently working on a new book on the holy places in the Holy Land which is due to be published in Autumn 2019.
Catholics in the Republic may be able to begin gathering together to celebrate Mass on June 29, three weeks earlier than the Government’s original roadmap according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. There is no indication when Masses will be permitted north of the border, but authorities are known to be keen to work in tandem. The…
The Diocese of Down and Connor has announced that funeral Masses will now resume having been suspended since March due to Covid-19 measures. It will be welcomed by many grieving families who acutely felt the pain of not having a funeral. It was one of only two dioceses where funeral services and requiem Masses were…
Parishioners who have missed being physically present at the celebration of the Eucharist will have a unique chance to participate in a ‘drive-in Mass’ on Corpus Christi, Sunday, June 14. Religious tour specialists Marian Pilgrimages are in advanced plans to hold an open-air Mass which will be held in Leopardstown, Dublin just off the M50…
The Catholic Church has called for inquiries into the devastating impact that coronavirus has had on nursing homes in Ireland. To date, 900 nursing home residents have died due to Covid-19 in Ireland and they make up more than half of all deaths attributed to the disease here. This week the Dáil heard claims that nursing homes…
While it is not yet possible to welcome pilgrims, the spiritual storehouse that is Lough Derg is very much open Fr La Flynn tells Michael Kelly In a normal year, Lough Derg in Co. Donegal would now be putting the finishing touches to plans to welcome pilgrims to the penitential island. But these are…
Time and again we see from the pages of the Bible that a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity. Whether in the story of the Israelites or in the New Testament, God sets before his people a choice when it comes to every crisis: to adapt and grow, or to perish. Human…
For the first time in 12 weeks, members of the faithful have gathered in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican to receive the Pope’s apostolic blessing. Officers of the Italian military police the Carabinieri worked with Vatican health officials to check pilgrims before admitting them to the square. As has been his tradition during the…
Saying America needs “more prayer, not less,” President Donald Trump has declared house of worship “essential” and directed the country’s governors “to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend.” “The people are demanding to go to church and their synagogue, to go to…
He was an evangelist who steadied the ship after the turmoil following Vatican II, the Papal Nuncio exclusively tells Michael Kelly A hundred years ago this week, Karol Wojtyla was born in the small Polish town of Wadowice. Some 58 years later he would be catapulted on to the world stage as the 263rd Successor…
“I thought my first cappuccino after 54 days was amazing, but being at Mass after 10 weeks was even better,” a Roman friend said this week. Churches in the eternal city were re-opened for public Masses this week after a long Lent. “It finally felt like Easter,” my friend wrote. Italy has been devastated by coronavirus.…