A year-long formation programme in Rome is now open to Irish applicants aged 18–30, offering young lay people the opportunity to study, pray and live in community at the Irish College in Rome. The initiative, based at the Irish College in Rome, was developed over several years as a semester programme and is now in…
As St Brigid’s Day approaches, medieval historian Dr Catherine Swift says the enduring appeal of Ireland’s best-known woman saint continues to “speak to us” in each generation. “We’ll never get the full picture,” Dr Swift said speaking to The Irish Catholic. “All history is fragmentary. We remember the saints because they speak to us in…
Leading psychotherapist Stella O’Malley has questioned how Irish media have reported on transgender-related issues, arguing that activist guidance has too often been treated as settled fact without sufficient scrutiny. Writing in this edition of The Irish Catholic, Dr O’Malley writes that what came to be presented as a broad social and legal consensus “was not…
Senator Ronan Mullen has raised concerns that a Council of Europe (CoE) report on banning so-called ‘conversion practices’ is being used to advance contested gender-affirmation policies across healthcare, education and religious settings. Writing in The Irish Catholic, Senator Mullen criticised the report ‘Towards a Ban on Conversion Practices’, authored by British Labour MP Kate Osborne, which…
St Mary’s Church, Knockmoyle, in Cappagh Parish, Co. Tyrone, has held its last Sunday Mass, after the parish suspended Sunday morning Mass amid growing pressure on clergy and a shortage of priests. The decision has been met with sadness locally, with parishioners describing it as heartbreaking for those with a deep attachment to the church…
Across Irish dioceses, parish life, and national initiatives, those working closest to youth ministry describe something more complex than a simple narrative of decline. In some places, uneven engagement, yes – but also growth in participation, post-Covid rebuilding, and in some places a surprising hunger for prayer, community, and formation. In the Diocese of Killaloe,…
Church leaders from across traditions gathered in Newry this month for a major care for creation conference, as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18–25 January) begins with an ecumenical call for Christians to live as “one body and one spirit”. Marking the unity week, Archbishop Eamon Martin, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and Archbishop…
Faughart Shrine in Dundalk, widely regarded as St Brigid’s birthplace and described as the “second national shrine of St Brigid in Ireland, is the focus of a new fundraising push ahead of St Brigid’s Day. “Faughart Shrine is the birthplace of St Brigid,” organiser Kathleen Maddy told The Irish Catholic. “Kildare was where the abbeys…
“The increase over the past year has been particularly steep,” said Ms Sophie Johnston, spokesperson for Cork Simon Community. The latest Department of Housing data shows 736 adults were living in emergency accommodation in Cork in November, up from 589 in 2024 and 545 the year before. Yet, Ms Johnston said, “behind every figure is…
Irish Franciscans have welcomed the announcement of the jubilee year of St Francis a chance to renew a Gospel based life and share Francis’ message of peace and mercy. Fr Eugene Barrett OFM, in Rossnowlagh, Co. Donegal, said the community was “delighted” and “pleasantly surprised” by the news, coming so soon after the Jubilee of…