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.
Documents obtained by The Irish Catholic this week offer something of a glimpse behind the scenes on the relationship between the Church and the State since Covid-19 restrictions began back in March. Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has been the key go-between on behalf of the hierarchy. His years in the Vatican’s diplomatic service has…
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD has added his voice to those calling for the re-evaluation of the ’50 people only’ rule which applies to the re-opening of churches and places of worship on Monday. Deputy Toibín insisted that “now more than ever faith and spirituality is playing an important role in so many people’s lives”.…
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has criticised a decision by the Government to limit the number of people allowed to attend public Masses. “It seems strange that in a church with a capacity of 1,500 people which has been scrupulously fitted out for conformity with social distancing and with clear indications about movement and interaction…
Reaction was largely laudatory to the Supreme Court’s June 18 rejection of a Trump administration bid to revoke Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era executive order that allowed young people brought into the country illegally as minors by their parents to stay in the United States. Under DACA, about 700,000 young people who qualify…
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI has left the territory of the Vatican for the first time since his abdication in 2013 to go to Germany to be with his 96-year-old brother Fr Georg who is in poor health. He made the decision shortly after consulting with the Holy Father, Pope Francis. A comunique from the Holy…
Bishop Kevin Doran has paid tribute to the garda detective who died in a shooting incident in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon in the Diocese of Elphin. He has been named by gardaí as Detective Garda Colm Horkan. The armed detective, who was from Co Mayo, was on duty on his own in Castlerea when he was shot just…
As the Church prepares to honour teenagers who lived lives of heroic virtue, the message is that holiness is for everyone writes Michael Kelly During his long pontificate, St John Paul II canonised 482 saints – more than his predecessors had raised to the altars of the Church in the previous 600 years. His critics…
A vital link with the universal Church and a broader ecclesial horizon will be lost writes Michael Kelly It’s been said that when the Irish nation couldn’t exist at home, it existed in Rome. The eternal city has long been a home for Irish people abroad and since its establishment in 1628, the Irish College…
While public appetite for dismantling parental choice in education is low, those who value faith schools must prepare, writes Michael Kelly At the national education conference hosted by The Irish Catholic last October Bishop Tom Deenihan effectively warned that if the Church could not move more quickly on the issue of divesting some more schools…
The Belfast-born writer and theologian C.S. Lewis once opined on the saints who live amongst us. “Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth,” he wrote. “Some, as I have admitted, are still hardly recognisable: but others can be recognised. Every now and then one meets them. Their very voices…