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.
Bishop Tom Deenihan has said he is “troubled” that the Government has intervened to cancel First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies, despite assurance from State officials that places of worship are safe. He also said that parents who are disappointed by the move should make their feelings known to politicians. The Bishop of Meath was…
A recently published de-classified US intelligence report revealed that dozens of mysterious unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings could not be explained and did not rule out the possibility of alien spacecraft. So if there is alien life, could this be a difficulty for Catholics? Not so says Fr Brendan Purcell, an Irish professor of philosophy…
The reality is that without fresh funding the work of safeguarding in the Church will fall behind, writes Michael Kelly “Hearts and minds have been changed, but there is no room for complacency” – that was the upbeat yet cautious assessment of the head of the independent body monitoring safeguarding in the Church this week.…
News of Boris Johnson’s weekend Catholic wedding has raised more than a few eyebrows. As my colleague Jason Osborne expertly demonstrates on page ten, the British prime minister has not received any special treatment that would not be available to anyone else. Neither is this a loophole, that has been exploited. None of these facts…
“Covid-19 has changed the Church,” we hear. It’s almost a cliché at this stage, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Change is a constant in life – the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus said: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man”. Cardinal Newman put it well when he said:…
Growing up in the late 1980s, a staple of my childhood reading was magazines like the Far East filled with stories of the heroic work of missionaries in distant lands. I remember being enthralled by what I read about Irish priests, brothers and sisters and the risks they took in their ministry. Whether it was…
A report published by the Diocese of Limerick this week found “that challenges arise from the absence of formal ‘official’ recognition of the roles played by women in the Church and states that opportunities need to be created for women’s voices to be heard in our liturgies, in Church leadership and in Church life” (see…
Mercifully, public worship will return in the Republic next week. From May 10, Catholics will be able to attend Mass without fear of prosecution. Priests will be able to leave their homes to celebrate Mass without the fear of up to six months in prison. It will be a relief for us to get back…
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that a controversial ban on public worship will be lifted on May 10, meaning Catholics will be free to attend Mass without fear of criminalisation. Worshippers in the Irish Republic have been forbidden to attend Mass for 27 of the last 30 weeks, the Government moving recently to make it…
The death has occurred of Tom Mullen of Ahascragh, Co. Galway, father of Senator Rónán Mullen. Mr Mullen died yesterday (April 28). He had been ill for the last number of years. Senator Mullen – an Independent member of the Senate and an outspoken voice on the right to life and human dignity – revealed…