Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan had a great interest in monasteries and loved to listen to monks chanting Vespers, it was said during her funeral homily. Fr Liam McNamara said that he first met the late musician in 1989 when she was playing a keyboard and singing with the choir of the Church of St Ailbe.…

Bishop Donal McKeown has said that experiencing narratives of victimhood and hopelessness during a recent trip to the Holy Land reminded him of ministering in Belfast during the civil conflict in the North. The Bishop of Derry was speaking on his return from the Holy Land where he was part of the annual ‘Holy Land…

“Bold steps” are needed before Ireland closes the gap between its climate change commitments and its performance, overseas development charity Trócaire said following the release of an embarrassing government memo. Supporting bills that encourage divestment from fossil fuels and the banning of their extraction will see Ireland move from “laggard to leader” according to the…

A leading theologian has rejected claims that Catholics are significantly over-represented among trainee primary teachers. The claim follows research from NUI Galway’s School of Education, which found that 90% of surveyed respondents who entered Irish primary teacher education programmes identified as Catholic, with just under half of these attending religious services at least once a…

Transition Year students of Le Chéile Secondary School, Dublin have been performing a tribute to the famous rock band Queen this week with a show entitled ‘We Will Rock You’. This is the first ever musical staged at the four-year-old Catholic secondary school set up by the Le Chéile Trust, which includes live performances of…

The World Meeting of Families is inviting couples to share special tokens of love with a difference for St Valentine’s Day this year. Following Pope Francis’ calls to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in a more meaningful way, WMOF2018 is inviting couples to think beyond the traditional box of chocolates or bunch of flowers to gifts…

The failure to institute a redress scheme for children who lived in Northern residential homes has been described as “deeply regrettable” by the Diocese of Down and Connor. Sir Anthony Hart’s Historical Institutional Abuse (HIAI) Report, published in January 2017, had examined the provision of care in a number of residential homes between 1922 and…

Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry has praised the announcement of a ceasefire by a dissident republican group. Óglaigh na hÉireann which has been responsible for a number of attacks, including the attempted murder of Catholic PSNI member Peadar Heffron in 2010, declared the ceasefire yesterday afternoon following negotiations with trade unionists. Bishop McKeown said: “I…

The Pope has called on journalists to search for the truth in an era characterised by ‘fake news’. The comments come after the unprecedented bad press the Pontiff faced during his recently-concluded South American tour where he visited Chile and Peru. Fake news grabs people’s attention “by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and…

Priest pleads with bishop for more exorcists in Ireland   Strange occurrences and even demonic possession have caused a leading Irish expert to call on Church leaders to appoint a team of exorcists to cope with what he sees as a rising tide of evil in the country. While for many exorcisms of those possessed…