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.
Thankfully all 52 of our Holy Land pilgrims are safe and well after the unprecedented situation of finding ourselves in Israel when war broke out with the militant faction Hamas. The group of pilgrims arrived back in Dublin Airport on Thursday evening on a direct El Al flight from Tel Aviv, but the flight was…
There is a dialogue in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring which has been running around my mind during my time in Jerusalem:
The number of people coming forward to discern a vocation to the priesthood and religious life in Ireland is showing some signs of steadying
“Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings, they’re your best link to your past. And the people most likely to stick with you in the future”. So wrote essayist Mary Schmich. I buried my mother at the age of 65 four years ago…
When we speak of the vocations crisis, we shouldn’t speak of it in isolation from the wider crisis of faith that we are currently experiencing in Ireland and large parts of the western world. Healthy and committed vocations only come from healthy and committed communities which can only be formed by healthy and committed families.…
The famous sociologist of religion Prof. Grace Davie coined the phrase ‘believing without belonging’ to describe the state of religion in Britain in the early 1990s. In 1994, Prof. Davie painted a stark picture of our neighbouring island as a country where church-going is largely a thing of the past, but many people still identify…
The retired Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has borne the heat of the day. He will be forever credited for his decisive handling of the issue of clerical sexual abuse in the Church in Dublin – an issue which as Pope Benedict XVI pointed out, has done more to dim the light of the Gospel…
A leading Irish-American cardinal has urged Catholics in Ireland to look to the strength of their ancestors in difficult times for the Faith, to renew and rebuild the Church here amidst current challenges. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, was speaking after celebrating Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh to mark the 150th…
The retired Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned that synodal consultations could lead to “frustrated expectations” when people realise that the process will not lead to a radical change in Church teaching on hot-button issues such as the ordination of women. He also said that he believes that Pope St John Paul II was…
St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh was packed to capacity well before Sunday’s 11am Mass began marking 150 years since the dedication of the church which dominates the skyline of Ireland’s ecclesiastical capital. Local parishioners — brimming with pride for the place where they made their First Holy Communion, were married, had their children baptised and…