The Passionist order of priests welcomed their third student on Sunday, when Conor Quinn took his first vows in Holy Cross Church, Ardoyne in Belfast. Conor, aged 27, is from South Armagh, the eldest son of Sean and Marianna Quinn, and a graduate in IT studies. After university he worked in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary for…

The Archbishop of Dublin has hit out at the overly negative portrayal of Church bodies in caring for the sick in the past. In his homily for a Mass to conclude the Dublin diocesan pilgrimage of over 2,000 people to the Marian shrine at Lourdes, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin acknowledged that “Church organisations made mistakes and…

There is a vicious cycle between drugs and homelessness said the CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI), as even those who successfully complete detox are then tempted by drug users in emergency accommodation. Tony Geoghegan spoke at the launch of MQI’s Annual Review for 2016 this week, in which they revealed almost 10,000 people dealing…

The Augustinians have moved out of St Patrick’s Church in Rome, breaking the Irish connection with the historic church. In a Chapter meeting in June the Augustinians made the decision to leave their Rome ministry, a choice believed to be driven by a shortage of priests. It is now run by the American Paulist Order…

The Catholic community in Co. Donegal has rallied behind its Protestant neighbours after it was discovered that the HSE plans to axe a CofI hospital chapel. Fr John Joe Duffy of the Church of Mary the Immaculate in Stranorlar, and chair of ‘Save our St Joseph’s’, told The Irish Catholic that his parishioners were “horrified and embarrassed”…

At the invitation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a delegation representing bishops and officials from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference have held a two-hour bilateral meeting with ministers in Government Buildings. This was the first such meeting to take place under the Church-State structured dialogue process with Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach. The agenda for the meeting included:…

Politicians have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable above their own sectoral interests, the Bishop of Derry has said. “It is the task of political leaders to promote the common good and not just sectoral interests or popular causes,” Bishop Donal McKeown said. “We expect our leaders to be wise and not just street wise.…

Donations to Trócaire’s emergency response in East Africa has raised €2.4m so far, with about half that amount coming from a church collection in parishes nationwide. Funds from the parish collection, which was sanctioned by the Irish Bishops’ Conference in late July, are continuing to come into the charity, and the total figure is expected…

Sex trafficking is “modern day slavery” and exists under the radar, according to an Irish bishop who has worked with an international group to combat human trafficking. Bishop Denis Brennan reacted to figures released by Ruhama, a charity that helps women involved in prostitution, which reveal large amounts of women continue to be smuggled into…

The Government has been called to focus on policy that will help elderly people live at home, as the number of people over the age of 65 in Ireland will double to nearly one million by 2031. As Ireland’s population ages Social Justice Ireland (SJI), an independent thinktank, released a report this week stressing that…