Priests involved in Irish airports have told of the difficulties aviation staff and airport communities have faced throughout the pandemic, describing the situation as “very, very difficult on people”, and have welcomed the cautious return to travel. “From a passenger point of view in the terminals there’s just so little happening,” Fr Des Doyle of…
Category: Irish News
In-person worship still not underway in Irish prisons
In-person worship has yet to return to Irish prisons, the Irish Prison Service confirmed, even though a number of prisons are now fully vaccinated. Although public worship returned to the general population May 10, in-person worship is yet to take place in Irish prison settings. The Irish Catholic was told that the return of in-person…
Bishops decry plans for Troubles amnesty
The British government’s plan to ban all Troubles-related criminal and civil actions as well as legacy inquests, has been described as “deeply disheartening” and would “perpetuate pain” according to Irish bishops. The Primate of All-Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh and Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry both criticised last week’s announcement. Archbishop Eamon said that…
Church unity or marginalised community – reactions differ to Latin Mass restrictions
The Pope’s letter restricting the ‘Extraordinary Form’ has caused emotive responses, Ruadhán Jones hears Pope Francis’ decision to restrict celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or ‘Extraordinary Form’ caused a predictable stir when it was released Friday, July 16. In it, he effectively rolled back the more permissive legislation introduced by Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI…
Passengers take flight at Irish airports
Airport priests have seen a decline in passengers and morale at Irish airports, but their optimism remains, writes Jason Osborne The aviation industry has been much reported as having taken a serious blow throughout the pandemic. Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there were 85,400 overseas passenger arrivals and 97,000 overseas…
Activists call ‘fowl’ over Notre Dame Cathedral rebuild
France’s society for the protection of birds has issued a plea for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame to keep the original holes atop the edifice that were home to kestrels and other species for centuries before the cathedral was devastated by fire in 2019. Under current plans they could be removed, the Irish Independent reported. The…
Behaviour at the funeral of convicted serial burglar criticised by priest
The liturgy during the funeral Mass last week of a man with scores of criminal convictions was described as “disturbing” by the Prior of St Mary’s in Tallaght, Dublin. Fr Donal Roche was not celebrating the Requiem Mass for Dean Maguire (29), who died in a crash on the N7 two weeks ago, but was…
Nuns shouldn’t give NMH site for free, says prominent doctor
It is “disrespectful” and “biased propaganda” to demand the Religious Sisters of Charity award the land for the National Maternity Hospital to the State, the Editor-in-Chief of the Irish Journal of Medical Science has said. Dr Bill Tormey told The Irish Catholic that the “nuns would be ill-advised to award the land to the State”…
People with disabilities’ rights ‘abused’ during lockdown says charity
People with disabilities in developing countries are being left behind due to lockdown measures and pressure on healthcare due to the pandemic, an Irish charity have said. Christian Blind Mission (CBM) in Ireland was established in 2002. CBM International is a worldwide network of 10 organisations working in 53 countries. Speaking to The Irish Catholic,…
Grandparents Day highlights value of elderly – Archbishop Neary
Ahead of the Church’s first Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, the patron of the Catholic Grandparents Association stressed the importance of close relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. “The value of someone who can help the young person to broaden their horizon and approach challenges from another angle is hugely important for the young,” Archbishop…



Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones





