The parish of Graiguecullen/Killeshin recently commissioned 23 new Ministers of the Holy Eucharist, an event made all the more remarkable by the involvement of 15 teenagers. The new ministers were formally presented and blessed at a Mass over the weekend, having recently completed their training. They will now take their place on the parish rotas…
Wisdom of the heart in the age of artificial intelligence
“The more you farm out to an AI what you should be doing yourself, the more you make yourself obsolete… Mediocrity is going to put a lot of people out of work,” said Fr Phillip Larrey. Fr Larrey, PhD, is a Catholic priest and professor of philosophy at Boston College. He previously served as dean…
AI-expert priest welcomes Pope’s stance, warns of ethical risks
In his inaugural homily to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV said that he had chosen his name partly because of the previous Leo who “addressed social questions in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”The Church today, he says, must offer her social teaching as a response to “another industrial revolution and…
Parish pastoral councils take centre stage in Galway and Clonfert
Over 200 members of parish pastoral councils (PPC) from the Diocese of Clonfert and the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, gathered in Loughrea for the Le Chéile formation day on May 10. The event focused on supporting lay leadership and deepening co-responsibility in parish life, as discussed by speakers, was led by Patricia Carroll,…
Images, illusions, and the search for the real
“Welcome to the desert of the real,” Morpheus tells Neo as he awakens from the computer-generated dreamworld into grim reality. The line, borrowed from Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard, captures a central modern anxiety: what if the world we experience is not real, but an illusion? In his work, Baudrillard – a French philosopher…
The papal pride: Every Leo who sat in Peter’s Chair
St Leo I (Leo the Great) Papacy: 440–461 Canonised Saint | Doctor of the Church The first pope to bear the title “the Great”, Leo I was a theological giant and a steady leader in times of crisis. He fiercely defended orthodox Christology during the Council of Chalcedon, helped define the doctrine of Christ’s two…
Priest shocked by petrol bombs and graffiti at parochial house
“This has been quite an ordeal and in the 50th year of my priesthood, it’s the last thing you expect to happen,” said Fr Stephen Duffy PP of Ravensdale, Co. Louth, speaking to The Irish Catholic after his parochial house was targeted in back-to-back incidents over the weekend. Petrol bombs were thrown at the house,…
Aontú says crisis in Tusla care system is a national scandal
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has long been an outspoken critic of Tusla, consistently advocating for transparency and reform. Recently, the party secured documents under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, specifically an email exchange between the Minister for Children and Tusla’s CEO as well as briefing notes from a call between the two on…
Inside the 2025 Papal Conclave: meet the Cardinal Electors
The papal conclave of 2025 will begin following the passing of Pope Francis, whose 12-year papacy profoundly shaped the Catholic Church. The conclave, expected to take place on May 7, faces the difficult task of selecting a successor—one who must navigate a diverse Church and lead it through a complex global landscape marked by various…
Ireland’s marriage rates on the decline, new stats show
A recent release from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the number of marriages post-Covid have been on the decline. In 2024, Ireland saw 20,348 marriages registered, including 668 same-sex unions, marking a 3.8% drop from 2023 and a 7.7% decline since 2014. Overall the marriage rate was 3.8 per 1000 people, down from…










