Staff reporter For the first time in almost two years, The Irish Catholic Christian Solidarity Pilgrimage to the Holy Land will go ahead next month. The February 16-24 trip looked uncertain due to Covid-19 concerns. However, Israeli authorities announced that the borders of the Holy Land would reopen to pilgrims in time to facilitate the…
Priests of the Kilmore Diocese have told The Irish Catholic they feel left in the dark after being told by the diocesan administrator that they should not speak about Bishop Martin Hayes’ leave of absence. The bishop wrote to the clergy in early December saying that he was taking a number of weeks leave on…
A “very real demographic winter” stands behind the Pope’s recent controversial comments on pets, prominent economist Ray Kinsella has said. The Pope provoked an outraged reaction last week when he criticised the replacement of children with dogs and cats in many couples’ lives. “The other day, I was talking about the demographic winter that we…
Staff reporter Dublin’s Filipino community continues to celebrate devotion to Santo Niño de Cebú this week in St Joseph’s Church on Berkeley Road in Dublin. The devotion revolves around an image of the Christ Child widely venerated as miraculous by Filipino Catholics. The image itself is the oldest Christian artifact in the Philippines, originally a…
Debates around keeping schools open during Covid should focus on “the activity of education”, said a diocesan Catholic schools’ representative. Given the difficulty in teacher supply, “the structured plan to actually deliver education” must be considered, said Alan Hynes of St Senan’s Education Office, which assists schools in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly and…
Kansas State University footballer Landry Weber recently turned heads when he announced that he’ll be going “pro” in a different direction: he’s planning on entering the seminary and being ordained a priest following his college days. “‘He’ll be entering the priesthood when his college career is finished’ said announcer Tom Hart on Kansas State wide…
Staff reporter This year began with the full recognition of the Irish language by the European Union for the first time in Ireland’s history as a member state. As an official language of the EU, all documents published by the union will be translated into Irish. Welcoming the decision, parish priest of Arklow and keen…
The controversial law on the minimum pricing of alcohol has been welcomed by homelessness charity founder Fr Peter McVerry who said it is “very positive” but admitted there were downsides to the legislation. Minimum unit pricing of alcohol, enacted on January 4, aims to stop the sale of strong alcohol at low prices, which has…
Fr John Joe Duffy said the “living Church” was very active in the parish of Creeslough after their church suffered a possible €250,000 worth of storm damage. Fr Duffy was “shocked” when the sacristan of St Michael’s Church, Creeslough contacted him to say the church was “a terrible mess” after gale-storm winds overnight had damaged…
Staff reporter There have been no complaints submitted to maternity hospitals about pro-life protestors despite claims women are being harassed as they access facilities that provide abortion. An investigation conducted by Gript revealed that of the 16 out of 19 relevant hospitals, none had received a formal complaint from staff or patients regarding pro-life protestors…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones