After 143 years of service to the people of Belfast the Sisters of Bon Secours are withdrawing from the North. The Bon Secours Sisters set up a ministry in Belfast in 1872 and lived for many years on the Falls Road, courageously facing the reality of life in Belfast, visiting the poor, nursing the sick…

The master of the Rotunda Hospital has criticised the Government’s controversial abortion law. Dr Sam Coulter-Smith claimed the absence of a gestational age limit in the State’s current abortion legislation creates a challenge for doctors. The obstetrician also remarked that he overestimated the number of abortions that would occur on the suicide ground and that…

Bishop Donal McKeown chats to young people who were among 150 delegates from parishes, schools and youth groups who attended the Diocesan Youth Ministry Conference in Thornhill College, Derry at the weekend, to plan the way forward for developing faith opportunities for young people at parish level. Photo: Stephen Latimer

Ten years after the publication of the devastating Ferns Report into clerical abuse, child safeguarding in the Diocese of Ferns continues to be an “evolving” process.  The Ferns Inquiry began in 2002 and lasted three and a half years, being published on October 25, 2005 with Ferns being described in the press as “the most…

Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated a Mass to wind up an unprecedented, and wildly tumultuous, series of two summits of Catholic bishops. They were convened to debate matters related to the family, including the front lines in today’s wars of culture, such as homosexuality, divorce, and the meaning of marriage. On Saturday, the Vatican released…

Time for action rather than ‘talking shops’

The Pope’s upcoming African trip will require distinct messages, writes Paul Keenan

“I get on my knees and pray right at the side of the bed, no matter where I am.”

A parish run initiative to get more men involved in the Church has been described as “wonderful” by the local parish priest, Fr John Sinnott. Seventy men met for a full Irish breakfast, cooked by male volunteers in Johnstown Parish Hall, in Johnstown, South Dublin. The outreach initiative took inspiration from Rebuilt, the book about…

Just 200 of the existing 3,300 primary schools would be needed to serve parents who want a non-religious education for their children, it has been claimed. Secretary of the Church of Ireland Board of Education, Dr Ken Fennelly, said figures from the Central Statistics Office, seen by The Irish Catholic, indicated that 27,238 parents with…