A group of big-hearted Confirmation students in Portarlington, Co. Laois have embraced the Christian spirit of the Sacrament of Confirmation by donating a portion of the gifts they received to other children in need in troubled parts of the world. Following their Confirmation, the Sixth Class pupils of Scoil Phádraig were so impressed by the generous…

A sister from Manorcunningham, Co. Donegal has been appointed by Pope Francis as a Member of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, Section for First Evangelisation and New Particular Churches. Sr Mary T. Barron, is the Congregational Leader for the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA). The congregation considers the appointment to be “a great…

Eighty years ago, on June 6, 1944, the largest land, sea and air invasion ever attempted happened in Normandy, France. Allies combines forces to invade Nazi-occupied France, and the event is known as the ‘D-Day’. At the prayer service in Normandy to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the invasion, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of…

Catholic youth groups in Ireland have said they are experiencing a resurgence, drawing hundreds of young people to faith-based activities and community service. Bishop Fintan Gavin of Cork and Ross said the resurgence gives him hope: “I am very hopeful. We had last Sunday the Eucharistic procession and we had more than 4000 people. Many…

The recently appointed auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Paul Dempsey is to chair a group responsible for the pastoral renewal of Dublin City Centre, which will see two churches upgraded to Cathedral (St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral) and Minor  Basilica status (St Andrew’s Westland Row) if approved by Rome. Substantial financial support is believed to be forthcoming for…

The Irish Church can learn from parishes in America who are responding to the housing crisis by opening unused rectories to Catholics according to a leading Irish ministry leader and speaker based in California. “They’re starting to lease those to elderly communities, so the elderly can have assisted living communities. Or in my locality, a…

The new Bishop of Down and Connor has celebrated Mass at the place where St Patrick landed in Ireland almost 1600 years ago. Bishop Alan McGuckian chose to go to Slieve Patrick, also known as Saul Mountain, Co. Down, to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi and Day 4 of his new novena to the…

The Irish priest who heads up Vatican investigations into allegations of abuse has said he’d like to see more transparency in dealing with victims and their families.  “If I had a child who was abused by a priest, I would want to know the status of the case.”  “It’s a question that’s discussed in the…

‘Pockets of Ireland are on fire with the faith’ according to a youth minister in the Diocese of Raphoe (Donegal).  Speaking to The Irish Catholic Keith Kelly praises the enthusiasm of young people in the Raphoe Diocese. He sees this as characteristic of young people in the Catholic Church across the world also: ‘‘Young people…

The collapse in belief among teachers in Catholics schools offers a huge opportunity according to the Director for Outreach for Evangelisation and Discipleship with Loyola Press, Julianne Stanz, an Irish woman now living in America. Commenting on the recent Grace Report that showed that the next generation of Catholic school principals were unlikely to have…