McArthurs prepare for appeal hearing A Belfast couple prosecuted for refusing to bake a cake promoting same-sex marriage have said the controversy has strengthened their faith in God and their married life. Daniel and Amy McArthur, who run Ashers Bakery, were speaking this week as they prepared to mount an appeal against an earlier court…
Archbishop Eamon Martin has urged the Government to “go out of its way” to support the family, especially the “uniqueness of the faithful and exclusive union between a married man and a woman and their children”. “In doing so, the State is not only caring for its citizens, but it is also strengthening and nurturing…
Limerick looks to Paris for inspiration Limerick diocese is looking to Paris for inspiration in dealing with the fall off in vocations. Bishop Brendan Leahy led a delegation of clergy from the diocese to the French capital to learn from their approach to the declining numbers of priests. “We decided to go to Paris to look at how parishes there…
The Family Centre at Knock Shrine, along with the gardening team, will plant a snowdrop this spring on the grounds of the shrine in memory of all deceased children enrolled in the Knock Book of Remembrance. On Sunday, February 7 at 3pm the bulbs will be blessed and all the deceased children and their parents…
Renua election candidates have accused Fine Gael of acting on false pretences by continuing to claim special allowances for Lucinda Creighton and other former party members. “Each political party gets a certain amount of money from the State in respect of each TD and senator to support the work of parliamentarians,” Ms Creighton’s husband Senator…
This year marks the centenary of perhaps one of the best known churches in the Diocese of Down and Connor – St Mary’s Star of the Sea, Portstewart, Co. Derry. Celebrations to mark this piece of parish history got under way with the launch of a book setting out the story of the seaside church…
The Christian radio station, Spirit Radio has reached a weekly listenership of over half a million people, according to a new survey. To mark the station’s fifth year broadcasting it commissioned a poll carried out by Amarách Research which showed that listenership has doubled in the last two years. CEO of Spirit Radio, Rob Clarke…
Last week in a ceremony in the parish centre in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow Bishop Denis Nulty and CofI Bishop Michael Burrows launched the joint diocesan pilgrimage to Echternach, Luxembourg which will take place in June 2017. Both bishops will lead the pilgrimage which will partake in the annual ‘Hopping Procession’ in honour of St Willibrord,…
The housing crisis should be a key issue in the general election, four Church-related social justice organisations have said. With family homelessness having risen by 90% last year and numbers on local authority waiting lists having more than doubled since 2005, the quartet claimed that many families and individuals are not benefitting from the national…
Pope Francis has called for stronger collaboration between the world’s bishops and the Vatican’s ‘doctrinal watchdog’, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Addressing the congregation’s plenary assembly, the Pope praised its work in the “delicate task” of “caring for the integrity of the Faith and Tradition”, and encouraged it to continue in…
Greg Daly
Cathal Barry
Mags Gargan