The dioceses of Clonfert and Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora are at a “threshold moment”, Bishop Michael Duignan said as he was installed as bishop of Galway, May 1. Bishop Duignan, who will serve as bishop to both dioceses following the retirement of Bishop-emeritus Brendan Kelly, said that this is “a historic development” for the Church…
Irish charities receive €2m for Ukraine aid Irish Aid has granted €500,000 each to four Irish charities – Trócaire, Goal, Concern and Plan International – to support their humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis. Announcing the grant, Minister for Overseas Development Aid and the Diaspora Colm Brophy said that the grant enables charities to assist…
Michael Kelly in Rome As the Church in Ireland continues the process of bishops, priests and laypeople working together to chart the future, Pope Francis has pleaded for Irish Catholics not to cling to past ways of doing things. He was speaking in unscripted remarks after receiving a group of Irish people involved in Catholic…
A professor of human rights in the North has warned rhetoric in the run up to the election and at protests against the Northern Ireland Protocol are “very concerning”. Catholic academic Prof. Colin Harvey of Queen’s University Belfast, who suffered severe online abuse after he was targeted in a speech at an anti-protocol rally earlier…
Senator Sharon Keogan has said she will continue to contribute to the debate around surrogacy, after a “deeply personal attack” during an April 21 Oireachtas committee meeting. Senator Keogan was referred to as being a “bigot”, “crude”, “cold” and that she should “check her Christian values” after raising concerns about the possibility of Ireland legalising…
Staff reporter Pope Francis has appointed Msgr John Kennedy, a priest of Dublin diocese, as one of two secretaries to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). The announcement came last Sunday, April 24, and follows an instruction published last month which established two divisions for the CDF, doctrinal and disciplinary. Msgr Kennedy…
The founder of Poetry Ireland has encouraged artists “examining their faith” to apply for a Government scheme aimed to support the arts through a weekly €325 payment. Poet and novelist John F. Deane, whose works often focus on Christ and faith, has said it would be very helpful for artists’ development and urged people involved…
Sr André of the Daughters of Charity, born Lucile Randon, has become the oldest person on Earth, aged 118. The blind sister lives at a nursing home in Toulon along the Mediterranean coast. She begins each day with breakfast, a morning Mass, and has a glass of wine every day. Sr André was born into…
Staff reporter Irish women’s international rugby player Claire McLaughlin (30) has said her Christian faith is really important, saying prayers before each match. “I’m a Christian,” Ms McLaughlin told The Sunday Independent, adding that “my faith has been really important to me over the past number of years.” Antrim-born, Ms McLaughlin was first capped for…
Catholic primary and secondary school bodies are confident they can manage the expected influx of Ukrainian students, as schools return after Easter break. About one third of all refugees are aged between five to 17-years-old, meaning of the 21,000 that arrived before the Easter break, 6,300 were of school-going age. “It’s very hard to tell…
Ruadhán Jones
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady