A member of a wedding party passes tractors bedecked with ribbons and flowers parked outside a church in Annalong, Co. Down. Photo: Mal McCann

Ireland’s newest bishop has encouraged Catholics to take pride in all the good work that the Church continues to do with the vulnerable and marginalised. Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ – who was ordained Bishop of Raphoe at the weekend – also said that the Church in Ireland needs to increasingly embrace a model where laypeople…

One of Ireland’s top broadcasters has described this country as a “cold house for Christians” after the Broadcasting Authority rejected complaints in response to the ‘haunted bread’ incident on The Late Late Show.  George Hook sharply criticised the findings of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) last week that there was “no offence caused” when…

Pope Francis would engage in the reconciliation process in Northern Ireland if he visited, as he is not afraid to engage with “real issues” according to the Bishop of Derry. With increasing speculation that the Pope’s planned visit to Ireland may include a visit to the North, Bishop Donal McKeown said it would complete the…

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has criticised the presenter of The Late Late Show for not showing “sensitivity to the potential for offence” over the ‘haunted bread’ incident. During a panel discussion on the show on January 6 Blindboy Boatclub of The Rubberbandits comedy duo referred to Holy Communion as “haunted bread”, while another…

Oscar-nominated actor Stephen Rea has criticised the ‘crocodile’ comments by the DUP’s Arlene Foster in relation to the Irish Language Act as “an outrage”. The Belfast-born actor said Ms Foster had pushed Northern Ireland back to the time of Lord Brookeborough, the former Northern Ireland Prime Minister known for his anti-Catholic views. The DUP leader…

The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) is an opportunity for the Church to engage with people, such as divorcees, who may feel alienated from “the family that is the Church”. Archbishop Eamon Martin told The Irish Catholic that he hopes the WMOF will reach out and “embrace people in all kinds of family situations”. He…

Images of a jumper with a pro-choice slogan draped over a holy altar in Dublin emerged this week, in a move described as “provocative” and “polarising”. The altar belongs to the Mary Immaculate Church in Inchicore and is in an outdoor grotto. The black jumper has the ‘Repeal’ logo of the pro-choice campaign printed on…

The Primate of All Ireland has said that he is looking forward to the new Irish translation of the missal, which is to be launched later this year. In his homily for the episcopal ordination of Dr Alan McGuckian as the new Bishop of Raphoe, Archbishop Eamon Martin said: “I would be very pleased if…

The Bishop of Elphin has condemned the use of embryos in bio-medical research after US scientists succeeded in editing human genomes to remove mutations like heart disease. Bishop Kevin Doran, chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Consultative Group on Bioethics and Life Questions, said human embryos were, as part of the research, “being deliberately generated under…