Catholic choir members are being asked to sing in Jerusalem for Israel’s 70th anniversary in a celebration on May 14, the day Israel was declared a state. The 100 piece choir will sing Irish composer Cormac O’Duffy’s oratorio ‘Hear! O Israel’ at the Mount Scopus Amphitheatre overlooking the Judean desert. Mr O’Duffy has dreamt of…
The new Papal Nuncio, Jude Thaddeus Okolo, attended the memorial Mass of a devout Nigerian women in Drogheda, Louth. Fr Louis Illah of St Mary’s parish in Navan officiated the Mass of Mrs Celine Olienna Bridget Orji. It was attended by members of St Peter’s Church and the Nigerian community. Mrs Orji was very active…
The renowned pilgrimage shrine of Lough Derg in Co. Donegal is to have a new Prior, following the announcement of the Clogher Diocesan Changes by the Diocesan Administrator, Msgr Joseph McGuinness. Fr Laurence (La) Flynn, the present parish priest of Ballybay (Tullycorbet), Co. Monaghan, is to take over the role on October 1. He will…
The US’s official Marian apparition shrine can learn from Knock, the bishop responsible for the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help has said. Green Bay’s Bishop David Ricken, who visited the Mayo shrine this week as part of a diocesan pilgrimage to Ireland, told The Irish Catholic that the shrine at Champion, Wisconsin is several…
A Dublin priest was jeered at by mourners when he gave a passionate sermon against crime and drugs during the funeral of a gangland murder victim. Speaking at the funeral of Darragh Nugent – gunned down as part of a west Dublin feud – at the Church of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rowlagh, Fr…
Limerick diocese is launching preparations for the World Meeting of Families next year with a special ‘Family Fun Day’ in Mary Immaculate College. Everyone in the diocese is invited to the free event on October 8 so “that there is a real experience of the whole diocesan family coming together for a joyful moment”. From…
A statement about the draping of an INLA-linked flag over a coffin at a Co. Derry funeral was intended purely to attract attention, an SDLP MLA has said, describing the episode as “disgusting”. Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) member David Ward’s funeral in Dungiven saw his coffin draped with the Irish flag and the INLA-linked…
The Archbishop of Dublin has warned against schools watering down Catholic education and called on the whole faith community to get involved in the debate on patronage, as it is “too important to be left to the polemicists and bureaucrats”. Celebrating Mass on Monday evening at the Church of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom at…
An uplifting observational series starting on RTÉ this week will highlight the essential guidance, support and inspiration provided by chaplains. The Ministry of Hope series follows three Irish chaplains over a whole year, as they reach out to people at their moments of greatest vulnerability, to counsel and care for them. Margaret Sleator was one…
The Direct Provision service for asylum seekers is “very unsatisfactory” and the system needs to be more respectful according to the Bishop of Clonfert. Bishop John Kirby, of the Bishops’ Council for Emigrants, spoke at a Mass in London celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Irish Chaplaincy Service in England, set up as Irish priests…
Mags Gargan