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…
Arrangements are being made for Australian child sex abuse survivors to go to Rome after the chair of the country’s royal commission into child sex abuse has said it is not unreasonable that they should want to witness Cardinal George Pell give evidence in person. The cardinal, who has already given evidence to the Victorian…
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…
Benedict deserves applause for his work on abuse – Francis Pope Francis has praised the work of his predecessor Pope Benedict in tackling abuse in the Church. Speaking on his February 18 return flight from Mexico to Rome, the Pope said he wanted “to honour the man who fought in moments when he had no strength to impose himself” and said “Cardinal Ratzinger deserves…
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…
St Philomena’s parish in Palmerstown, Dublin 20 is hosting a Lenten parish retreat from Friday, February 26 to Sunday, February 28 under the theme ‘Renewing ourselves in God’s loving company’. Starting on February 26 at 7.30pm Mass guest speaker Eileen O’Brien will discuss ‘Praying to God dwelling in the depths of your heart’. On February…
Greg Daly
Mags Gargan
Cathal Barry