EXCLUSIVE The “window is narrowing” to save Catholic education, and the Church must act now to increase investment and streamline resources by divesting schools to the State according to an in-depth report on Catholic schools in Ireland has warned. Catholic ethos will become “invisible” in schools if the Church doesn’t respond to the “trajectory of…

The Irish Jesuits are to hand back Gardiner Street Parish to Dublin diocese after 50 years ministering to Dublin’s north inner city, the order announced Monday. While St Francis Xavier church will remain attached to the Jesuits, it will cease to be a parish church from August 1 this year, becoming part of the neighbouring…

The Church can’t downplay the centrality of the priesthood to the life of the Church because of not wanting to “offend sensitivities”, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan said at the close of the Year for Vocation. The charism of the priesthood has been an essential in the makeup of the Church since the beginning, the head of…

Homelessness charities believe human trafficking is becoming “more prevalent” and they are coming in contact with more victims, according to a new report from Christian NGO Depaul. Depaul published An Overview of Homelessness and Human Trafficking in Dublin in conjunction with UK-based charity The Passage on Monday. The report found most homelessness charities believe they…

An RTÉ Investigates programme on Ireland’s abortion laws made a “total mockery” of public service broadcasting and has left many pro life supporters angry, says the Pro Life Campaign (PLC). The Pro Life Campaign called for a special Oireachtas committee to examine RTÉ’s editorial bias following the “highly partisan” documentary that aired on Monday night.…

A lack of resources is “hindering” synodal outreach to young people, those on the margins and others, a new submission from two Western dioceses has warned. While there is a general desire to be a more welcoming Church, in a new synodal submission, the dioceses of Clonfert and Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora have said a…

Alan McGuckian SJ was installed as the new bishop of Down and Connor diocese in St Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast, on April 14. The former bishop of Raphoe was welcomed to the North’s most populous diocese by a full house at the cathedral. Bishop McGuckian took the opportunity to call on the North’s assembly to be…

Donegal priest Msgr Eamonn McLaughlin has been appointed as Canon for the Chapter of the Papal Basilica of St Mary Major by Pope Francis. Pope Francis often visits the Basilica, coming to venerate the icon Salus Populi Romani before and after trips away from the Vatican. This new announcement comes under a month since the…