A programme called ‘The Family Tree’ has been launched in conjunction with Catholic Schools Week, and aims to encourage participants to learn more about family and its importance. Developed by the Society of African Missions (SMA) the four-week programme emphasises that although families are unique, they all have the same roots and branches. Using the…

The annual Divine Mercy Conference – which regularly attracts thousands of people to Dublin’s RDS – is to step it up a gear this year with the addition of a special programme aimed at attracting younger Catholics. Hosted in St Paul’s Church, Arran Quay, Dublin, on Friday February 16, the event aims to highlight the…

Faith plays a role in encouraging positive interactions between students online, as bullying moves from schoolyards to social media, according to the secretary for the Episcopal Council for Education. At the launch of Catholic Schools Week in the Killaloe Diocese it was highlighted that this year there will be a year-long catechetical programme working in…

Every day in Ireland over 500,000 single use cups and 2.5 million bottles are disposed of through landfill and incineration. Eight million tonnes of plastic leaks into the ocean each year. The Waste Reduction bill, progressing through the Dáil, aims to ban plastic cutlery / plates and establish a deposit/refund scheme (DRS) for glass, plastic…

Teresa Devlin   When a crisis occurs within families, parents tend to look to trusted advisors; the people who have given them good and sensible counsel in the past. An expanding contributory factor to the crises that can affect families is the internet. The import of this is that if the Catholic Church wishes to…

Hatred and violence must find no shelter amongst communities, the priest at the funeral of murder victim Derek Hutch has warned. Mr Hutch (27) was shot dead while he was sitting alone in a car at Bridgeview halting site in Ronanstown, west Dublin on Saturday January 20. He became the 14th victim of what Gardaí…

Catholic education offers a way of bridging religious and secular ways of looking at the world, Killaloe’s Bishop Fintan Monahan has said. Speaking in St Flannan’s College, Ennis, this week, Bishop Monahan launched Catholic Schools Week by calling to mind the motto of Cistercian College, Roscrea, which can be loosely translated, he said, as “while…

Irish pubs will now be allowed to serve alcohol on Good Friday after the Dáil voted today (Thursday) to lift the ban leaving some campaigners wondering how long the law forcing pubs to close on Christmas Day will remain. The ban will be lifted before Good Friday, which this year falls on March 30. Minister…