John Costelloe, Tulla Rd, Ennis has been awarded a Bene Merenti award after over 55 years of involvement with the St Vincent de Paul society in Clare. The Ballygriffey native, who has worked for Clare County Council and in Shannon Development, has been involved at all levels of the society, serving as conference president and…
A jubilee Mass in St Malachy’s Dominican Church, Dundalk, celebrated by Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh to mark 800 years of the Dominican order, proved a triple celebration. Not merely did the Mass acknowledge the role of the Dominicans, who established themselves in Dundalk in 1777 from their 14th-Century base in Carlingford, in the area,…
A well-known academic who believes the Church should ordain women deacons has been appointed to a Vatican commission to consider the issue. Prof. Phyllis Zagano, who teaches at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, has long written for the US-based National Catholic Reporter. She has occasionally contributed to The Irish Catholic, in April writing of…
Thousands of Christians are reportedly trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo as the battle by government troops to recapture it enters its final stages. Having endured the heaviest shelling of the conflict in recent weeks ahead of an advance by forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad on rebel lines, Christians and other…
Staff reporter A ‘meme’ developed by The Irish Catholic to coincide with World Youth Day has gone viral on the social network Facebook. Developed to coincide with the celebration of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, the meme had engaged more than 110,000 people in just two days. Designed to highlight the huge crowds who travelled…
The Catholic Bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have called for a national dialogue towards avoiding “chaos” in the nation amid the threat of delayed elections. With President Laurent Kabila resisting calls to step aside by the end of the year, as required by the DRC’s constitution, there are suspicions that moves to…
Clonard Monastery in Belfast hosted a dual celebration on July 30 when Mark McMullan and Ryan Holovlasky professed their first vows as Redemptorists. Mark (left) is from Belfast and joined the order’s formation programme in 2013 after gaining experience in the voluntary sector while Ryan (right) is from South Africa and joined in 2012, leaving…
Egyptian President hails Coptic community Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has lauded his nation’s Coptic Christian community. Amid a rising incidence of attacks on Copts across Egypt, President al Sisi received a delegation of Coptic prelates led by Patriarch Tawadros II and hailed their “wisdom and spirit of patriotism” despite all they have suffered and continue to endure.…
In a double first for the The Society of St Columban, the congregation has appointed a woman as the first lay editor of its mission magazine, The Far East. Journalist Sarah MacDonald, a specialist in religious affairs and former reporter for The Irish Catholic, takes over from Fr Cyril Lovett SSC. Welcoming MacDonald’s appointment, Fr…
The Venezuelan government has been accused of attempting to smear the Catholic Church as part of a tactic to keep beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro in power. With Venezuela’s economic crisis biting hard on the lives of ordinary citizens, the Church has increasingly become a lifeline for those struggling to gain everyday supplies. Meanwhile, the political…
Greg Daly
Paul Keenan
Courtney McGrail