Few days in the GAA calendar carry the same weight as a Munster final. Each year, the coveted Mick Mackey Cup is lifted amid a swirl of colour and noise, the roar of a rapturous crowd rising to meet the moment as the province’s hurling champions are crowned. While Gaelic football may dominate much of…
It’s over two years since Pope Francis launched the Synod on Synodality and to many it seems at this point to be all about assemblies, working groups and reports that float high above the lives of the man and woman in the pew. The publicity and the posters are a rapidly fading memory. The idea…
Pope Leo’s election on May 8, 2025, coincided with the commemoration of the Blessed Martyrs of Algeria. Among them are the seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine, murdered in 1996, thirty years ago. Pope Leo will pay tribute to the 19 martyrs who were killed in this mostly Muslim nation. We reprint part of Luca Attanasio’s…
Seven years after From Fire, by Water first appeared, Mr Ahmari is not especially interested in retelling his conversion story. The memoir, which traces his journey from post-revolutionary Iran through atheism and into the Catholic Church, is now being released in a UK edition with a new preface. But speaking to The Irish Catholic, Mr…
Whenever I talk about the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church or even mention that it’s an Eastern Catholic Church, there is always a follow-up question. Many often know that Apostle St Thomas had established a church and community back in 52 AD, hence the name St Thomas Christians. Little do people know, there was a huge revolution…
I said to her, what’s the problem? You don’t want to have a caesarean section. And she said, ‘Why are you so bent on the caesarean section? You haven’t even checked to see whether I can have a baby.’” The woman had already undergone two previous caesarean sections. Medically, a third was necessary. Attempting a…
Powerfully elegant, Newry Cathedral presides above a cacophony of city commerce. Nestled between the loveliness of The Mournes, The Ring of Gullion and The Irish Sea, on the main Dublin to Belfast thoroughfare, Newry historically and contemporarily is an important investment centre. It is fitting that this city boasts the first cathedral to be built following Catholic…
Recently I’ve travelled the road to Damascus, visiting parishes and speaking with Christians communities as I made my way home through a region at war. The conflict began during a research trip in Iraq and soon disrupted my planned return to studies in Cairo. The airspace closed, and the situation in Baghdad deteriorated rapidly. Though…
The belief that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead is the single most important element of the Christian faith. In 1 Cor 15:14, St Paul argues that the truth of Christianity depends on the truth of the resurrection of Christ. If it never happened, then the Gospel message is empty. The fact that the…
As Pope Leo XIV prepares for his first visit to the Church in Africa, I examine the key issues he is likely to encounter when he meets Catholic leaders in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea from April 13 to 23. The pontiff has accepted the invitation from the government authorities and Church leaders of…