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.
In the passage that recounts the disciples’ encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, one of the most evocative lines is where Cleopas says plainly “our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free”. The despondency is palpable. It’s a feeling I am sure that many…
Radical legislation that would make it legal to end the lives of vulnerable patients has passed the first stage in the Oireachtas by 81 votes 71. It was debated for just 70 minutes, with TDs opposed to the move only permitted four minutes of speaking time. Politicians backed the move to send the plan to…
Church leaders have urged parishioners not to lose heart in the face of further Covid-19 restrictions and insisted that they will work to impress upon the civil authorities the vital importance of public Masses. In a statement this evening (Wednesday) following their virtual quarterly plenary meeting, the bishops’ conference said that while they “fully support…
People who think politics is sinking to new lows may find comfort in knowing Pope Francis also is concerned about the debasement of what church teaching has described as a “lofty vocation.” “Political life no longer has to do with healthy debates about long-term plans to improve people’s lives and to advance the common good,…
The story of the Church and individual clergymen during the civil conflict in the North deserves to be told, writes Michael Kelly Forty-one years ago this week, on September 29, 1979 Pope John Paul II travelled to Killineer, near Drogheda in Co. Louth and made a passionate plea for peace. It was the first day…
The list of priests who have died this year from the beginning of March until the end of August makes for grim reading (see page 19). There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Irish clerics who have died compared to the same period in previous years. Of course, not all of them…
The challenge for the Church is to move to authentic co-responsibility between priests and people the new Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes tells Michael Kelly In his apostolic exhortation ‘Christus vivet’ published last year, Pope Francis spoke of the youthfulness of the Church and prayed: “Let us ask the Lord to free the Church from…
New research which reveals that congregations could fall by as much as a quarter should serve as a wake-up call to all of us writes Michael Kelly It’s more than six months since restrictions were first imposed on the celebration of public Masses in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Many parishes…
Despite the challenges, rumours of the Church’s demise are greatly exaggerated Bishop Paul Dempsey tells Michael Kelly When the parish priest of Newbridge Fr Paul Dempsey got a call from the Pope’s ambassador in Dublin in mid-December requesting a meeting he quickly made arrangements to go to the capital. The Papal Nuncio Archbishop Jude Okolo…
I had just turned 18 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. I was on retreat for Holy Week at the time and therefore was forbidden to listen to the radio so as not to break the pattern of the retreat. I had the profound sense that something momentous was happening and figured that…