Pope Leo XIV assured Irish clergy of his continual prayers for vocations in Ireland during an audience in St Peter’s Square, where he met with a delegation of Irish vocation directors, including Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore. Bishop Cullinan, who introduced the delegation to the Pope, called the meeting “a very personal moment.”…
Lough Derg opened its 2025 pilgrimage season with 256 ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ taking part in the first Three Day Pilgrimage of the Jubilee Year, a 20% increase on last year. The famous pilgrimage, renowned for its spiritual intensity, involves fasting, going barefoot, night-long vigil, and continuous prayer — all in pursuit of reflection, renewal, and…
Fr Jerald David, Aghamore parish administrator, led 40 pilgrims in a special Mass at the Mass Rock in Cloonacool, Tubercurry, Co. Sligo, marking a significant location where priests secretly celebrated Mass during the Penal Times. These dangerous periods in Irish history saw the celebration of Mass which was banned, and priests were hunted, facing the…
The Sisters of Mercy in Cobh celebrated the 175th anniversary of their community. The occasion was marked by a special Mass celebrated by Bishop William Crean at St Colman’s Cathedral, with Srs Pauline, Emmanuel, Anne-Marie, and Ann in attendance, supported by the Parish schools and clergy. In an interview with The Irish Catholic, Sr Emmanuel,…
As the centenary of Matt Talbot’s death approaches, the Knights of St Columbanus have launched a renewed effort to promote the Venerable not only as a candidate for sainthood but as a model saint for the modern day. Their initiative — tied to commemorations taking place on June 6–8 — looks ahead, seeking to present…
With exam season underway and major changes to the Leaving Cert incoming, the question of AI use in schools has never felt more urgent. Fr Philip Larrey, Catholic priest and AI ethicist, says artificial intelligence can support learning but only if used wisely. “You can use AI to train,” he told The Irish Catholic. “It…
Bro. John Salvador Kenny, a Franciscan monk born in 1925, has devoted his life to service and recently marked his 100th birthday. Raised on a farm in Longford, he trained as a psychiatric nurse before joining the Franciscans in 1952, taking the name Salvador. Over the decades, he served in Dublin, Killarney, Galway, Belfast, and…
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…
“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…
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…