A series of ongoing court cases across the UK and Ireland are drawing renewed attention to how abortion buffer zone laws are being enforced, ahead of this year’s March for Life on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4. In Northern Ireland, Pastor Clive Johnston appeared in court on April 22 in a high-profile case under the…
Forming ‘saints and scholars’ in today’s world Faith formation and intellectual formation should grow together, according to Grace Cantillon-Murphy, director of Mater Dei Education.Speaking to The Irish Catholic ahead of her talk, ‘A New Generation of Saints and Scholars’, Ms Cantillon-Murphy said that faith and reason must go hand in hand. “A saint seeks truth…
The Irish Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ) has marked its 40th anniversary with a commemorative Mass celebrated at Holy Cross Abbey. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Dr Stephen Dorgan, Chancellor of the Order in Ireland, described this as “an amazing milestone of service” to Christians in the…
Seven years after From Fire, by Water first appeared, Mr Ahmari is not especially interested in retelling his conversion story. The memoir, which traces his journey from post-revolutionary Iran through atheism and into the Catholic Church, is now being released in a UK edition with a new preface. But speaking to The Irish Catholic, Mr…
I said to her, what’s the problem? You don’t want to have a caesarean section. And she said, ‘Why are you so bent on the caesarean section? You haven’t even checked to see whether I can have a baby.’” The woman had already undergone two previous caesarean sections. Medically, a third was necessary. Attempting a…
“There isn’t a date fixed because there’s still some reflection going on… but certainly it’ll be short term rather than long term,” a senior diocesan official has said of plans to introduce new pastoral areas in the Diocese of Cloyne. Canon James Moore told The Irish Catholic that the proposals are still being refined ahead…
“People get a great sense of belonging,” a Redemptorist priest told The Irish Catholic, as a triduum marking the 300th anniversary of St Gerard Majella drew strong crowds in Dundalk this week. Fr Brendan Callanan CSsR said the celebrations, held to mark the saint’s birth in 1726, reflected a devotion that has endured locally for…
Ms Susan “Una” McCann has celebrated her 100th birthday, marking a century of life rooted in faith, family and community in west Belfast. Born on March 31, 1926, in Cavendish Street, Ms McCann has lived most of her life within sight of Clonard Monastery, which has remained central to her life of prayer and service.…
Ireland is increasingly becoming a meeting point of global Catholicism rather than simply a country shaped by its past, a leading theologian has said. Speaking at the Loyola Institute Trinity College Dublin, Prof. Massimo Faggioli argued that the centre of the Catholic Church is shifting away from Europe, with profound implications for Ireland. “Catholicism was…
“Divine mercy comforts the afflicted at the same time as afflicting the comfortable,” writes Bishop Donal McKeown. Writing to The Irish Catholic ahead of Divine Mercy Sunday, Bishop McKeown reflected on what it means to live as an Easter people today. “The heart of the early church’s preaching was simple – Christ died for our…
