Martin Luther’s original intent had been to renew and reform the Church, not to divide it, according to Limerick’s Bishop Brendan Leahy, calling for this to be remembered in today’s ecumenical efforts. Luther saw this as his reformation as based on a return to the original form of Christianity in the sense of the Gospel…

Archbishop Eamon Martin has praised sporting organisations for their commitment to helping people find a sense of belonging. At a Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh at the weekend to celebrate the contribution of sport, Archbishop Eamon said “just as a supportive sports family celebrates success and also picks you up when things have gone…

Ireland’s most-senior Churchman is to address some of the major challenges facing Catholic schools in a major conference on education later this month. Archbishop Eamon Martin will be the keynote speaker at the Dublin conference on October 26 on the theme ‘Where now for faith-based education? Charting the future together’. The conference will look at…

News In Brief Personal friendships, encounter with Christ in prayer and the Scriptures, and witness to wider society can all act as bridges towards Church unity, Archbishop Eamon Martin has said. Maintaining that Ireland’s “people of faith …share the responsibility of leading the way in transforming relationships and in healing the legacy and pain of…

A devout Catholic runner blessed by the chaplain of the US House of Representatives before the Chicago Marathon went on to win the race. Galen Rupp became the first American man to win the event since 2002 after Fr Patrick Conroy blessed him and his team member before the race. Mr Rupp’s couch, Alberto Salazar,…

The ecumenical potential of next year’s World Meeting of Families (WMOF) was highlighted at a recent gathering of Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops, a Church spokesman has said. The August 2018 meeting is widely expected to see Pope Francis visiting Ireland, both to take part in the major Church event, and to ‘complete’ St…

Teachers need to be assisted in learning how to integrate refugee children who have experienced trauma into Irish schools, according to the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI). Commenting on a British initiative which saw teachers in Northern Ireland sent to German schools in order to learn from their integration techniques Sr Stan, the founder of…

News In Brief Missionaries at home should be thanked just as much as those who have worked abroad, the chair of the Bishops’ Council for Missions has said. Speaking at a Mass in Maynooth organised by World Missions Ireland, Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly SMA, a onetime missionary in Africa, gave thanks for all those who made…

Unborn children may still be protected by the Constitution even if the Eighth Amendment is repealed, former Fine Gael leader and minister for finance Michael Noonan has said. Speaking in a Fine Gael parliamentary meeting, Mr Noonan urged the Oireachtas Committee on the Eight Amendment to take legal advice on what the implications would be…

Parishes and port chaplaincies can play a key role in tackling human rights abuses at sea, especially for those trapped in the “invisible chains” of human trafficking, Ferns’s Bishop Denis Brennan has said. “People imagine it happens somewhere else, but it happens here too,” Dr Brennan told The Irish Catholic, adding that with given the…