Pope Francis has appointed Dubliner Bishop Paul Tighe to the influential Vatican body which advises the Pontiff on choosing new bishops. A priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin, he has served at the Vatican since 2007 in a number of roles and has worked in the Council for Culture for the past five years. Sixty-four-year-old…
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…
Liam Fitzpatrick The Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin has seen an increase in the number of ‘working poor’ availing of the centre’s services in recent weeks as the cost of living continues to rise. Irish prices and apartment costs have drastically increased over the past year, making it difficult for those working low-pay jobs to…
Staff reporter Irish pilgrims have escaped the worst of the summer travel chaos in Dublin airport and abroad, Marian Pilgrimages have said. While many travellers have struggled with cancelled flights and lost baggage, pilgrim tour operators use of charter flights and regional airports means they have been largely unaffected by these issues. “We are having…
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…
New form of ‘team ministry’ in Ferns Priests in the diocese of Ferns will be assigned to a “team ministry” to cater for parishes without a resident priest, Bishop Ger Nash has said. The appointments, which take effect August 15, are as a follows: Fr Jim Doyle has been appointed Chaplain, Irish College Paris for…
Staff reporter Catholic third level institute Carlow College has been offered to the State with “no strings attached”, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in the Dáil. Mr Martin, responding to questions from TDs about the Church’s involvement in education, said the “issue of the role of the Church within education” has “evolved significantly”. He cited…
Staff reporter The chapel in the Poor Clares’ convent in Galway has been reopened to the public after “badly needed” repairs to nearby buildings. The roof of some of the convent buildings was “badly in need of repair with rain coming through the ceilings of the top floor bedrooms”, the order said in a statement.…
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…
Abortion figures for 2021 show the number of abortions in Ireland is at almost 20,000 in three years, writes Ruadhán Jones Figures released by the Department of Health last week revealed that around 6,700 abortions took place in Ireland in 2021, bringing the total number to almost 20,000 since abortion was introduced three years ago.…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones