A group which campaigned for reduced religious influence in Church-owned schools was forced to close down following a series of complaints to the State’s ethics watchdog over controversial funding, The Irish Catholic understands. ‘Equate: Equality in Education’ was established in October 2015, aiming to change the law so that oversubscribed Church-owned schools would not be…

The lack of stable government and uncertainty around Brexit are contributing to a climate of uncertainty in which young people in the North can be drawn into paramilitary and other criminal activity, a Belfast-based priest has said. “We need politicians to resolve their present disagreements and this impasse. We need stable government here again,” Fr…

Ireland medical professionals will face dilemmas around abortion and conscience similar to those faced by their British peers if constitutional protections for the unborn are abolished, Baroness Nuala O’Loan has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic following the second reading in the House of Lords of the Conscientious Objection (Medical Activities) Bill, which she introduced,…

Bishops and other Catholic Church education interests have expressed their dismay and opposition to the current proposals outlined by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which could weaken the status of religion in the primary school curriculum. The NCCA proposed to have two categories of time allocation, 60% for a minimum State curriculum…

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…