Forgiveness is key to overcoming the violent legacy of Northern Ireland’s past, a well-known ecumenical priest has said. Speaking ahead of a Belfast-based festival aimed to create peace in the country, Fr Martin Magill of St John’s Parish on the Falls Road told The Irish Catholic that over the past few decades “so much hurt…

Catholic schools and parish communities play a vital role in welcoming and supporting families stuck in Direct Provision centres, a Cork-based priest has said. Commenting on the Millstreet centre, which campaigners believe has the largest number of children of all the Cork Direct Provision sites, Fr John Fitzgerald said that many asylum seekers are well-integrated…

The world’s largest social media platform has banned advertising of a pro-life movie as it has been dubbed a ‘political ad’. Facebook reportedly denied authorisation of ads promoting the US anti-abortion  Roe v. Wade film starring Jon Voight and Stacey Dash. The film aims to tell the story of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court…

The Church should prepare to sell large numbers of Catholic schools to the State and use the money to strengthen remaining Catholic schools, leading commentator Maria Steen has said. Mrs Steen – a columnist with The Irish Catholic – and spokesperson for The Iona Institute has warned that the continued situation where the State is…

Ireland’s reliance on Muslim doctors in hospitals around the country may derail Government plans to roll out a national abortion service, a leading obstetrician has said. Large numbers of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) working in maternity units outside Dublin are Muslims from abroad, according to Dr Trevor Hayes of Kilkenny’s St Luke’s Hospital, who says…

Swathes of young people are at risk of gambling addiction across the country given the sheer lack of support mechanisms tackling the issue. According to Stephen Hughes, Senior Youth worker in Belfast’s St Peter’s Immaculata Youth Centre, gambling addiction among young people is at crisis point as there are currently no provisions for those aged…

Hundreds of Filipinos from all across Ireland gathered in Dublin last week for the annual Santo Niño procession, with over 400 attending Mass in St Joseph’s Church on the city’s Berkeley Road afterwards. “It’s a very big Filipino celebration,” Fr Martin McDonald OFM told The Irish Catholic, adding that this celebration of the Holy Infant…

The stole worn by the late Bishop Edward Daly on Bloody Sunday is to be donated to the Museum of Free Derry. The vestment, along with a photograph of the teenage victim Jackie Duddy, which Bishop Daly kept on his desk for over four decades, will be formally given to the museum at a ceremony…

Bishop Ray Browne launched Catholic Schools Week saying the strength “of our schools is that they’re local”, and the staff know local people and “respect their vision for their children”. The launch took place last week in Holy Family National School Rathmore. The week: Celebrating the Work of Our Local Catholic Schools, runs from January 27 to…