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.
If the data is correct the post-coronavirus Church in Ireland will be a depleted force, but creative thinking can arrest decline, writes Michael Kelly The First Sunday of Advent at the weekend brought more potentially worrying news about the new variant of Covid-19 that has been discovered in South Africa. It’s a concern, health officials…
Editor’s Comment The Most Reluctant Convert is a film that traces the spiritual journey of the renowned author of The Chronicles of Narnia Belfast-born C.S. Lewis. It explores the impact friends had on the committed atheist and how they forced Lewis to question his own disbelief. The title of the film is taken from Lewis’ own description of…
In opting for a softly-softly approach to diocesan reform, Rome may simply be delaying the inevitable, but has to start somewhere, writes Michael Kelly The old saying goes that ‘you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time – but you can’t please all…
We have tested and tasted too much, lover- Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance will charm back the luxury Of a child’s soul, we’ll return to Doom The knowledge we stole but could not…
On the eve of the new millennium in 1999, the US writer George Weigel published his seminal biography of Pope John Paul II. Mr Weigel titled the 1,000+ page book Witness to Hope because he felt this encapsulated both the Polish Pontiff’s long-standing ministry and his feelings for the Church as we entered the third…
We often hear the claim, sometimes in homilies, that contemporary culture has lost a sense of sin. But what if it’s not so much the loss of the idea of sin, but the loss of the idea of forgiveness that we witness all around? The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – famous for his oft-quoted phrase…
Pope Francis has called on Israel and the Palestinians to restart direct negotiations to work towards a two-state solution to the Middle East peace process. He also insisted that only peaceful means can bring about a just settlement to the conflict. The Pontiff made the remarks this morning (Thursday) while receiving in audience at the…
The story is told – probably apocryphally – that in the year 1210 St Francis of Assisi had an audience with Pope Innocent III. During the course of their meeting, both men strolled through the Vatican treasury with all the wealth that this contained at the time as a sure sign of the temporal power…
The event marking partition was always going to be a highwire act from a Catholic point of view, but history will remember the ceremony well, writes Michael Kelly Leaders of the country’s Christian traditions have vowed to face “difficult truth” and work closer together to ensure that the fragile peace process in the North leaves…
By trying to over-psychologise everyday life we do people a huge disservice, Prof. Patricia Casey tells Michael Kelly Over decades of professional practice and a ready willingness to appear in the media, few people have contributed to the public understanding of psychiatry as much as Prof. Patricia Casey. And yet, the realm of mental illness…