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.
The Pope in Ireland An Taoiseach on Church-State relations Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that religion will continue to play an important role in Irish society in the future. In a carefully-worded speech to welcome the Pope to Dublin Castle, Mr Varadkar also said he hoped that the Pope would soon be able to…
One of the primary duties of the Pope is to confirm Catholics in their Faith. That is the principle motivation behind all papal travel. Irish Catholics experienced something of this during the momentous visit of Pope Francis at the weekend. Leading up to the Holy Father’s arrival, the media coverage was relentlessly negative. From fears…
Pope Francis has used Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park to to beg forgiveness and issue a wide-ranging apology for Church abuses. In an unprecedented extended penitential rite at the beginning of Mass with an estimated 500,000 people for the World Meeting of Families, the Pontiff said that he wanted to seek forgiveness for abuse of…
Pope in Ireland The Pope’s window for showing that child protection is a key priority for his is narrowing, writes Michael Kelly It was with a mixture of sadness and dismay that many Catholics looked on in January 2018 when Pope Francis jumped to the defence of a controversial Chilean bishop accused of knowing…
Pope in Ireland Pope Francis has not fully realised his ambitious reform agenda, writes Michael Kelly According to a leaked diary – which no-one has disputed – Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio came runner-up in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI in 2015. Despite that, few people considered him a candidate for the papacy in 2013,…
Ask practising Catholics to tell you about their Church and their faith, and on the whole, you get glowing reports. There will be complaints, and stories of inadequacies, and reservations about this or that teaching, and no one knows the faults of the Church — collectively, and in this or that place — better than…
WMOF 2018 Pope Francis has said he is “excited” to return to Ireland, and indicated it may be an opportunity for Catholics and Protestants across the island to reach out to one another. Speaking specifically to the “Irish family” in a August 21 video message ahead of the World Meeting of Families, Francis said:…
WMOF 2018 Bishop Donal McKeown has expressed his hope that Pope Francis will help Ireland wrestle with difficult questions facing both Church and State. Speaking to a packed St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry for the diocesan opening ceremony for WMOF, he said it is always better to be unhappy with the right questions than…
WMOF 2018 Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over Ireland have gathered in cathedrals across the country for simaltenous opening ceremonies for the World Meeting of Families. In Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin presided at evening prayer in the RDS – the main site of WMOF which is expected to attract some 37,000 pilgrims…
Ahead of his historic trip to Ireland, Pope Francis has begged forgiveness of victims of abuse and acknowledged a widespread culture of cover-up in the Church. Writing in an unprecedented ‘letter to the People of God’ released by the Vatican this morning, Pope Francis says that the Church “showed no care for the little ones;…