The Pope’s message calling for young people to eat less meat has proved divisive according to a social media poll taken by more than 350 people. The poll, conducted by The Irish Catholic, asked “Pope Francis has urged young people to eat less meat as a way to help save the environment. Do you agree?”…

An Irish priest is being consulted on a new film about famous Italian exorcist Fr Gabriel Amorth to ensure the depiction is accurate, The Irish Catholic understands. Part of the The Pope’s Exorcist is set in Ireland. The psychological thriller stars Russell Crowe as Fr Amorth, who it is estimated performed about 100,000 exorcisms. The…

Pop music and Grease star Olivia Newton-John made a pact with God to save her daughter Chloe’s life while she was pregnant, she said in a final interview before she died. Ms Newton-John, who died peacefully aged 73 on Monday, revealed in an interview with A Life of Greatness that she was “close to losing”…

The biggest barriers to effective Relationship and Sexual Education (RSE) are teacher confidence and competence, not ethos, the NCCA have said. Dr Patrick Sullivan said the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment found “school ethos is not in fact the barrier that it is often perceived to be”, following a review on the delivery of…

Staff reporter The new structure for the diocese of Cork and Ross, with priests appointed to ‘families of parishes’, have been announced. The diocese will have 16 families of parishes each ministered by a team of priests. In the first phase, which will take place September 10, 12 families of parishes will be established, Bishop…

Focus missionaries are set to aid the Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen’s University Belfast in its outreach efforts in the coming academic year. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Director of Campus Ministry Shannon Campbell said that Focus will help to develop the chaplaincy’s “outward vision”, which will stop it from becoming a “little holy huddle”.…

Knock novena returns to traditional format The annual Knock national novena returns to its original format next week for the first time since 2019. The theme for this year is ‘A Journey in Hope’, with the novena running from Sunday August 14 to Monday August 22. More than 8,000 pilgrims are expected to attend each…

Pro-lifers will resist any attempts to use new ‘exclusion zones’ legislation to ban the largest pro-life event of the year, the Life Institute have said. Niamh Uí Bhriain told The Irish Catholic that such an interpretation of the legislation would be extreme and “malicious”. “That would have profoundly important implications for the right to protest…

Staff reporter Fr Patrick Devine SMA hopes to tackle violence against women in Nairobi, Kenya, through a new Empowerment Centre. The centre will offer women and children the tools and supports to be “significant architects of their security”, according to a press release from the Shalom Centre. The new Empowerment Centre, part of the Shalom…

American popstar Britney Spears took to Instagram to vent about church closures during Covid which she claims prevented her from having the Catholic wedding of her dreams. In a now-deleted post, Ms Spears said that she’d wanted to marry in St Monica Catholic Church in Southern California, but was prevented from becoming a regular attendee…