Tributes have been paid to Maynooth professor Fr Ronan Drury who has died aged 93. A stalwart of the national seminary, Fr Drury taught countless generations of Irish priests the art of preaching homilies. He died on Thursday, November 16, in Dublin. A priest of the Meath Diocese, he was ordained in 1949 having begun…

Integrity was central to a major international formation conference at the national seminary, writes Greg Daly.   If there were recurring themes in last week’s international priestly formation conference in Maynooth they were ones of integrity and integration. Opening comments from Armagh’s Archbishop Eamon Martin on identity and closing ones from Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin…

The man credited with playing a major role in an upsurge in candidates for the priesthood in Britain has said those involved in vocations promotion need to understand that many young committed Catholics now consider a vocation after a conversion experience. Addressing a major conference on priestly formation in Maynooth at the weekend, Fr Christopher…

In Short After 100 years nativity statues from a North Belfast church have been restored with the help of young people, an artist, and the Housing Executive. Over time the figures were substantially damaged but restoration work from local young people, shepherded by Antrim artist Janet Crymble, has given them a new lease of life…

Ireland’s most-senior Churchman has said that governments should consider withholding foreign aid from countries where freedom of religion is not upheld. Archbishop Eamon Martin was speaking at a ceremony outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in his Armagh Archdiocese where the cathedral was illuminated in red to highlight the persecution faced by Christians in many parts of…

Farewell Mass on course for Phoenix Park Greg Daly and Chai Brady   Pope Francis’ farewell Mass to the Irish people next August is very likely to be held in the Phoenix Park The Irish Catholic understands. Discussions have been taking place between World Meeting of Families (WMOF18) organisers with State authorities and planners hope…

Fellow sportsmen, sports organisations, friends and members of the public have offered their prayers to a prominent Irish footballer who is undergoing chemotherapy. Liam Miller (36), who won 21 caps for the Republic of Ireland (RoI) between 2004 and 2009 and played midfield for Celtic and Manchester United, is battling pancreatic cancer. Social media was…

There are set to be sharp divisions when members of the hierarchy discuss a plan that could see Irish Catholics absolved from the requirement to attend Mass on two traditional major feastdays, The Irish Catholic understands. The Irish bishops’ conference is currently considering a proposal that would reduce the importance of both All Saints’ Day…

It is almost unjust and unchristian to speak of economic success at a time when homelessness has reached unprecedented levels in Ireland, Bishop Brendan Leahy has said. In a letter read in Limerick churches ahead of the Church’s first World Day of the Poor, Bishop Leahy noted how Irish homelessness has been a crisis for…

Dozens of Churches across Ireland will be lit in red this coming Wednesday to highlight the suffering of Christians around the world. This is the the first time the event will be held in Ireland, and already 30 parishes have pledged to join the demonstration on November 22. So far some of Ireland’s largest Catholic…