“Experimentation feels like trying to make the Church more palatable to a secular audience,” said Trinity student Story Pennock to The Irish Catholic, in response to recent remarks by Bishop of Raphoe Niall Coll about young Catholics’ search for solidity rather than adaptability in the face of increasing discussions around reform. Ms Pennock, a member…
“Who here wants to be happy?” Bishop Fintan Gavin asked as over 500 young people “lit up” the stage in Cork City Hall with a concert for Maranatha 2026 on February 26. The bishop addressed the students there to present, as well as the hundreds gathered to watch the show, inviting them to reflect on…
Northern Ireland is, by a very long distance, the most religiously affiliating region of the United Kingdom, with just 24% with no religion, a newly released research report has stated. The equivalent rate for the Republic is 32% identifying with no religion over the same period examined by the researchers, who add: “Meanwhile, a third…
The Evangelium young adult apologetics conference will take place in Cork on Saturday, March 21, marking the first time the annual gathering has been held outside the Dublin area. The event will bring together young adults aged 18–40 for a day of Mass, talks and discussion aimed at deepening understanding of the Catholic faith. Public…
Thousands gathered at the RDS this past weekend for the 35th Divine Mercy Conference, as pilgrims and faithful from across Ireland and abroad came together for prayer, worship and reflection on this year’s theme – ‘This is my Body… this is my Blood, given up for you’. The annual gathering brought together families, young people…
Two Dublin city centre churches are opening their doors to the tens of thousands of people baptised there as part of a collaborative Lent initiative with the Archdiocese of Dublin. St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral and St Andrew’s, Westland Row are the sites of countless infant baptisms, and starting on March 7, anyone baptised at these two…
The former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Ballina is set to become a community centre, as a planning application was recently submitted to Mayo County Council. A decision is expected to be made by April 12. The convent was built in 1876 and is a protected structure; it closed its doors in 2008. In 2024,…
The Cistercian Community of Our Lady of Silence has announced it will establish its long-term home at Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth, following what it described as a “prayerful process of discernment”. The community, formed from the former abbeys of Mount Melleray, Mount St Joseph and Mellifont, gathered at Mount St Joseph Abbey in Roscrea in…
While Church debates continue about synodality and reform in preparation for an Irish Synod in October, Bishop Niall Coll of Raphoe has delivered a clear and sometimes firm message: the next generation of Catholics is not looking for endless discussion or progressive experimentation — they are looking for truth. Speaking to a gathering of over…
The first anniversary Mass of Bishop Willie Walsh was celebrated at the Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul, Ennis, last Saturday. On the day, the plaza located in front of the cathedral was dedicated to the late bishop’s memory and is now known as the Bishop Willie Walsh Plaza. During his homily, Bishop Fintan Monahan…
Renata Steffens