Travellers’ pride at Kerry Mass The Traveller community has voiced its hope that the first ever Traveller Pride Mass celebrated in St Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, July 19, will become an annual event. After the Mass, the organiser Richard O’Brien added that he hopes the Mass can be replicated in around the country, bringing the Traveller…
The example of Irish missionaries martyred by communist forces during the Korean war could help renew the Faith in Ireland, a priest working on their cause has said. Six Irish Columban fathers and two missionaries of Irish descent died as “witnesses of modern and contemporary faith” during the conflict in Korea which lasted from 1950-1953.…
“Change is coming soon” to the diocese of Cashel and Emly, Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly has warned, with 16 priests hitting retirement age in the next five years. In a pastoral letter accompanying the diocese’s clerical appointments, Archbishop O’Reilly said there will be a maximum of 35 priests under the age of 75 in five years’…
Seven Irish Columbans in Korea were martyred having stayed with their flock, Ruadhán Jones hears When we think of martyrs, our minds tend to reach far back into history. We think of the persecution of the Church under the Roman Empire, right at the beginnings of our faith. Or perhaps, closer to home, we think…
Four men and women were invested as Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem last Saturday, July 23. Cardinal Seán Brady, Grand Prior of the Lieutenancy for Ireland of the Order, led the investiture ceremony in the chapel of St Patrick’s College Maynooth. Fiona Maire Kane, Helena Margaret Sheridan,…
Irish martyr Fr Tommie Cusack’s letters reveal his bravery and humour, writes Ruadhán Jones “I have a boy,” Fr Tommie Cusack’s mother (Delia) begins a letter to Dalgan park, home of the Missionary Society of St Columban, “who is anxious to go to Dalgan park next September.” The letter is dated February 8, 1928, when…
After two years without, the Mass was celebrated in Rath cemetery, Co. Kerry, with Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne in attendance. The cemetery Mass was an annual event, but the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to proceedings temporarily. The crowds turned up for the procession and social afterwards, enjoying the summer sun.
The Catholic Education Partnership (CEP) has welcomed proposed changes to the Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum, which will see more of a focus on “human relationships” and less on “mere biology”. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment published Monday a draft Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, including Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), drawn…
Each of the 13 “pastoral areas” in Ossory diocese will have a vocations director, as the diocese brings the fight for vocations to the local level. The move addresses one of the “key areas” identified by the diocese’s 2015 pastoral plan, according to co-ordinator of the plan’s implementation Gemma Mulligan. “One person will be nominated…
We must resist the temptation to make Catholic organisations our own form of safe spaces, writes Ruadhán Jones Lay Catholic societies and youth groups play an important role in the modern Church. My experience of University College Cork’s informal Catholic society was vital to my faith, strengthening it by uniting me with like-minded Catholics. We…