Fr Mike Shea, an Irish-American Redemptorist, has made an appeal for funding as more and more children orphaned by HIV/AIDS arrive at his orphanage in Thailand. Fr Shea, whose grandparents were from Ventry in Co. Kerry, is ministering to 145 girls and boys of all ages in Sarnelli House Orphanage, near Nong Khai. Thailand is…

Members of a campaign to stop the closure of the Dominican church in Drogheda have said a meeting with the Master of the Order in Rome has given them hope for the future. In a meeting with Fr Bruno Cadoré, Master of the Order and his personal secretary Fr Vivian Boland, the eight campaigners set…

The Irish Catholic would like to express our sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Mrs Bridie Rochford, a faithful reader and promoter of The Irish Catholic for over 60 years in John’s Lane Augustinian church in Dublin. May she rest in peace.

At least one magazine is happy to follow Papal advice Would-be cutting edge stuff in the latest issue of The Phoenix, with the ‘Clerical Errors’ column taking a rusty scalpel to the timing of papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown’s August 22 Irish Times interview, risibly billed at the time as the nuncio’s “first Irish interview”.…

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said it may seek sponsorship from “lucrative” groups and individuals in order to employ a full-time lay member of staff. ACP co-founder Fr Sean McDonagh told The Irish Catholic that the suggestion to hire a staff member to ease the burden of work on their leadership team was…

Archbishop Eamon Martin joined the other heads of the bishops’ conferences from across Europe on a visit to the Holy Land for the annual Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE). He is pictured with young people in Nazareth who he said asked “us to help them save their faith schools”.

Cobh parish held a candlelit vigil on Sunday to remember the thousands of refugees who have lost their lives at sea and the suffering of those fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq.  The event, organised by Cobh solicitor Don Ryan in association with Trócaire and Cobh Cathedral, followed a Mass celebrated by Bishop William Crean.…

Kerry priest upset at Govt permission

Lay visitation teams are setting out two-by-two this week to call to all the homes in a Co. Derry parish, in an initiative to reach out and welcome people back to the Church.  The aim of the ‘Big Invite’ is to offer a personal invitation to return to the Faith to the more than 80%…

Pope Francis has urged Europe to look to how refugees offer the continent new life, while warning against the dangers of Islamist extremists hiding amongst genuine refugees. He urged Europe to “retake a leadership role in the concert of nations” and to “once again become the Europe which determines the path to follow, because it…