Over 600 people gathered in Dún Laoghaire last weekend to celebrate the value of unborn children, with the aim of keeping Ireland’s constitutional protections for the unborn. The event, ‘Loving the 8th’, took place on Saturday, 10 February and was organised by Dún Laoghaire Life Canvass and Cherish All the Children Equally as part of…
The World Meeting of Families is inviting couples to share special tokens of love with a difference for Saint Valentine’s Day this year. Following Pope Francis’ calls to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in a more meaningful way, WMOF2018 is asking couples to think beyond the traditional box of chocolates or bunch of flowers to tokens…
Depaul helped move almost 600 homeless people into more permanent accommodation last year, the charity has said. In a statement, the charity revealed that in 2017, Depaul’s Assertive Engagement (AE) helped 593 people who were using emergency, night-time only hostels move to a variety of more stable arrangements. Depaul currently operate two of the largest…
The Pro-Life Campaign has called on The Irish Examiner to retract a front-page story claiming that 75% of Irish doctors support open access to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The PLC has said the story, which has the sub-heading ‘Poll of 400 medics shows support for liberalising abortion regime’, is “fake news”.…
Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns is meeting in the Vatican with other bishops, senior law enforcement officers and key international organisations this week to share best practice in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery. Dr Brennan is the Irish bishops’ representative in the Santa Marta Group (SMG), an alliance of police chiefs, bishops,…
Government plans could undermine communities even further The National Planning Framework plan currently under discussion by Government could undermine life in rural Ireland a well-known priest-activist has warned, with other priests insisting that rural Ireland is dying as a result of policymakers’ neglect. Fr Harry Bohan told The Irish Catholic he believed that the framework was…
A prominent theologian and advocate for Church reform has said the Vatican decision to bar former President Mary McAleese from speaking at a conference is “understandable”. However, Dr Massimo Faggioli, Professor of Historical Theology at Villanova University in the US believes that “whoever barred Mary McAleese from taking part in a major international conference on women’s…
People who read at Mass are not reading from a newspaper, they are “proclaiming the word of God” and they need training, Fr Danny Murphy from the National Centre of Liturgy in Maynooth has said. Fr Murphy, told The Irish Catholic that parishes and dioceses “need to be facilitating getting people trained” who can then go back…
Rían Wood While Catholic schools must be inclusive, the Church has a “right and the responsibility to impart the Gospel vision” to students Bishop Fintan Monahan has warned. Speaking at Mass to mark the conclusion of Catholic Schools Week, the Bishop of Killaloe said the success of the Catholic system is a result of its…
Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, has announced plans to double its own Housing First work this year. The charity, which was an early adopter of the internationally recognised approach to ending homelessness that focuses on providing both housing and intensive case management simultaneously, is set to expand its delivery of the…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Susan Gately
Michael Kelly