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. 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. Micheal finished his stint as Editor of The Irish Catholic in January 2024 and has taken up the position of Director of Public Affairs for Aid to the Church in Need Ireland.
Saying that retired Pope Benedict XVI was “very sick,” Pope Francis asked people to offer special prayers for him. “I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for emeritus Pope Benedict,” Pope Francis said at the end of his weekly general audience today (Wednesday). The 95-year-old retired Pope “is sustaining the…
Editor’s Comment There are a few books that I read and re-read almost every year. Amongst them is the Jesus of Nazareth trilogy written by Pope Benedict XVI. If you haven’t come across them, Christmas might provide some free time to pick them up and have a read. In the pages, the former Pontiff presents…
Editor’s Comment The pre-Enlightenment era is often viewed as a time of rigid conformism and a lack of liberty compared to our own day. People point to the traditional formula error non habet ius (error has no rights) and shake their head confidently assuring themselves that we live in a better time when people are…
On the cusp of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the number of people taking their own life is on the rise, writes Michael Kelly It’s a startling and sobering fact that since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, more people in the North have died at…
Editor’s Comment Advent is so often a missed season. In the rush to Christmas, we can forget the centrality of anticipation as well as patient and attentive waiting. In the marketplace, Christmas lights are erected from early November and there is talk of Christmas everywhere. It means that Advent gets lost, but it is an…
Editor’s Comment Sr Josephine Enenmo OLA is a missionary sister from Nigeria now living in Dublin. She has shared fascinating reflections on her experiences of the Church in Ireland and the profound feeling of parishioners still remaining strangers to one another, rather than as part of the same community journeying together. “Coming from Nigeria –…
Editor’s Comment Writing to early Christians in Asia Minor nearly 2,000 years ago St Peter urged believers to: “always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have” (I Peter 3:15). The Christians were a minority at the time often facing persecution, and St Peter referred…
Editor’s Comment Church history is always one of ups and downs, peaks and troughs. The last 2,000 years have been witness to some of the greatest people in human history doing great things in the name of Christianity. The same period has also witnessed immense human wickedness from people who profess to be followers of…
Editor’s Comment We’re not even in Advent yet, and already it is Christmas time in the marketplace. But, what exactly does Christmas mean to us? Or, what does it mean to our political leaders. That is not a question as simple as it might appear at first glance. Every year we are treated to stunning…
Pope Francis has appointed well-known theologian Fr Niall Coll as the new Bishop of Ossory. The announcement came in a communique from the Holy See this morning (Friday). Bishop-elect Coll (59) is a priest of the Diocese of Raphoe and up to this point has been serving as parish priest of Donegal Town. The Letterkenny-native…