The Irish bishops are currently investigating the possibility of developing their own Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) programme for use in Catholic schools amid concerns about what is currently being taught in those schools, The Irish Catholic understands. Bishop Kevin Doran told this newspaper he is “anxious” that an RSE programme in keeping with Church…
Creighton was right to quit FG – voters Renua leader Lucinda Creighton was right to quit Fine Gael, according to almost half of her constituents. The Dublin Bay South TD sacrificed her junior ministry and a potential promotion to Cabinet when she voted against the Government’s controversial abortion legislation in 2013. A poll by research firm Millward Brown for the Irish Independent…
Faith and sport are “intertwined” to the extent that they are the “matrix” for strong parish communities, a leading physical therapist has claimed. Gerard Hartmann, who has treated some of the world’s most elite sport stars, made the remarks at a diocesan-run sports conference in Limerick. “Where we see strong communities you typically see faith…
Fr Ted co-writer Graham Linehan, has defended his “gothic horror” style video which calls for the abolition of Ireland’s constitutional protection for the unborn. The video, called ‘Chains’, which was released in October 2015, has been strongly criticised in numerous quarters. Former Taoiseach John Bruton described the video as “totally anti-Christian” and Sunday Independent columnist…
Young people from the Diocese of Derry have taken up the challenge to ‘Debate the Bishop’ in a series of Lenten meetings organised by the Derry Youth Community. On Sunday Bishop Donal McKeown took part in the first debate with young people aged between 16-21 in St Mary’s College, Derry on the topic of ‘Profession…
Remarks by Pope Francis that Catholic women with Zika virus might be able to use contraception do not change Church teaching, a leading moral theologian has said. Zika virus has been linked by some to birth defects in babies, especially microcephaly which causes them to be born with abnormally small heads, but the link has…
Tackling homelessness must be a priority in Ireland’s new programme for government, leading campaigners have warned. The calls come after 134 families became homeless last month, bringing Ireland’s total number of homeless families to 769. Previously, the highest monthly total for newly homeless families had been 84 in August last year. The comparable figure for…
Over 200 young people are expected to attended a festival of faith next month hosted by the Office for Evangelisation and Ecumenism in the Archdiocese of Dublin. The idea behind the ‘Faith Fest’ in Clonliffe College came from four parish pastoral workers who had seen the success of the Youth Space at the Eucharistic Congress…
Fr Frankie Mulgrew, son of famed Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket, is behind an imaginative initiative in the Diocese of Salford in the North of England which is using a double-decker ‘Mercy Bus’ to bring people back to Confession this Lent. Bishop John Arnold of Salford and Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Carole Swarbrick, are pictured with…
A number of dioceses have warned that the proposed new curriculum on religion and beliefs may be “difficult” to implement in faith schools. The Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly, along with the Dioceses of Kerry, Killaloe and Limerick have issued a joint call for submissions to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on…
Cathal Barry
Greg Daly
Mags Gargan