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.
“Every generation blames the one before,” so sang Mike and the Mechanics in the classic 1980s ballad ‘The Living Years’. There’s more than a hint of truth about that in contemporary Ireland where the order of the day is out with the old and in with the new. What is new and modern is generally…
A leading academic has said he hopes that the Catholic ethos of the country’s largest Catholic college will not be affected after authorities there rejected a new course on Christian ethics in healthcare. Academics at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick had been approached by hospital chaplains for professional training to deal with some of the…
We are all products of our backgrounds and upbringings. It’s fascinating – and often amusing – to see that the older people get the more they resemble their parents in looks, mannerisms and even attitudes and dispositions. It’s not surprising that people raised in the same family, particularly if that upbringing has been a relatively…
Priests have expressed the hope that younger Catholics are rediscovering the Sacrament of Reconciliation after reporting a notable upsurge in people availing of Confession this Christmas. Limerick-based Fr Gerard Moloney CSsR said the much talked about “demise of Confession” is “slightly exaggerated”. “We have heard hundreds here in Limerick over the last few days, of…
The Irishman who leads the Vatican office responsible for processing abuse complaints has revealed that if he were a layman with a son abused by a priest, he’d probably stop going to Mass. Msgr John Kennedy also said that his office has seen a record 1,000 cases from around the world this year, including from…
Have you ever wondered what it was like for Mary and Joseph to make the journey to Bethlehem? Or, for Jesus and his disciples to make the trip from the Galilee to Jerusalem? From the earliest times, Christians from all over the world have gone to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of…
A champion of ecumenism, a prison chaplain and singing trio ‘The Priests’ are amongst those to be honoured by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in her traditional new year list of awards. Tyrone-based cleric Fr Kevin Mullan is to be awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for what Buckingham Palace describes as “services to inter-Church collaboration and…
Where I was born in Co. Tyrone, today is generally known as ‘Boxing Day’. It’s a pity that – at least in that part of Ireland – the influence of British television and culture has had the effect of erasing St Stephen from the calendar. Thankfully, in most of the rest of Ireland the day…
Reforms of the Church in Ireland are underway, and they will intensify, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo tells Michael Kelly The Christian roots of relations between the Irish and the Holy See go back to 431 when Pope Celestine I sent Palladius as Bishop of Ireland. St Patrick was to steal his thunder, but relations between…
The Pope’s man in Ireland has given a strong indication that the Vatican will be in no hurry to replace the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin. Dr Martin is due to submit a letter of resignation on April 8 when he turns 75 in line with Church law. Speculation has been rife in Church circles…