Mariapolis is the Focolare summer gathering under the theme ‘Mercy Matters’ where people of all ages, backgrounds and faiths meet to take timeout together. It is like a retreat but it is lived together each day with talks, workshops, outings and fun, moments of reflection and discussion. This year’s gathering is on July 6–10 in…
Church leaders have agreed to a new national plan that aims to build a culture of vocations in parishes and re-energise the push to promote priesthood and religious life. The establishment of a new national coordinating office is a key part of the new strategy which aims to revolutionise vocations promotion after years of decline.…
St Fachtna’s De La Salle secondary school in Skibbereen, west Cork recently closed its doors for the last time. De La Salle Brothers lived and taught in Skibbereen from 1937 until they left in 2001. A plaque was unveiled on its main street by the president of its past pupils union and a special Mass…
Leading canon lawyers have poured cold water on suggestions by Pope Francis that “the great majority” of Catholic marriages may in fact be invalid. The Pope commented at a press conference at the Diocese of Rome’s pastoral congress that the prevalent “culture of the provisional” means couples getting married often don’t understand what it means…
The three branches (brothers, sisters and secular) of the Ireland-England Province of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SSCC) met for their annual gathering in Emmaus Retreat Centre in Swords at the start of June. Accompanying the assembly was the Superior General of the Congregation, Javier Álvarez Ossorio (Spain) and one…
Three-week-old Freddie McMullan pictured on the first day of the annual Redemptorist novena in Clonard Monastery, Belfast last week. See Page 6. Photo: Hugh Russell/The Irish News
The Irish Church Music Association holds its 47th Summer School from Wednesday, July 6 to Saturday, July 9 in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. The theme is ‘God Full of Mercy’. This year’s programme includes a blend of contemporary and traditional choral pieces with emphasis on Psalms, sacraments, ritual and music for the liturgical…
The chaplain to the Irish community in Paris has heaped praise on fans who travelled to France to support the boys in green at the Euros, saying they managed to “melt the hearts” of the French. Fr Dwayne Gavin told The Irish Catholic that the atmosphere in Paris was “electric” ahead of Ireland’s recent clash…
The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church has commenced in Crete amid division and last-minute absences. The historic synod, intended to be the first full gathering of all Orthodox leaders since 787, had hoped to keep its divisions purely a matter of internal discussion but an 11th-hour announcement by the Churches of Russia,…
Staff reporter Keith Duffy assured his mother that he would hand deliver her petitions to the grotto at Lourdes before embarking on a mammoth 550km cycle to the Marian shrine in the south of France. The former Boyzone singer joined a group cycling from Limerick to Lourdes in Nantes to raise money for Cliona’s Foundation, a…
Cathal Barry
Greg Daly
Courtney McGrail