The parish priest of a young lay missionary tragically killed in a car accident in Liberia last week, has said her family’s faith is sustaining them in their grief. Mary Ann O’Driscoll from Glasnevin, Dublin died when she was struck by a car in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, last Wednesday. The 24-year-old was working as…

Bishop John McAreavey has condemned the attempt at the weekend to lure and murder police officers in Lurgan. The Bishop of Dromore said those who attempted to kill police officers “have nothing to offer the people of Northern Ireland but despair and death”. “The day of the bomb and the bullet has no place in…

The Parish Priest for the Travelling community in Dublin has said a recent meeting with Government representatives has given hope of formal State recognition of Traveller ethnicity.   Fr Derek Farrell, PP of the Parish of the Travelling People, attended a Roundtable Meeting on Traveller Ethnicity last week with representatives of Traveller organisations and senior…

Fr Shane O’Neill pictured after his ordination ceremony with Bishop Phoncie Cullinan of Waterford & Lismore (right), and his family (l-r), Fiona, Darren, Cathal, his father Thomas and mother Patricia at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Knockanore, Co. Waterford on Sunday. Fr Shane is the fifteenth man ordained to the priesthood for Ireland this…

A Benedictine monk from Kerala in India who was visiting Portlaoise was injured in an attack on Saturday July 18.  Bro. Dominic Savio answered a call at the front door at about 11:30 at night, only to be pushed inside by two attackers bearing knives. A knife was held to his throat, and he was…

On Sunday lay youth and young religious collaborated to celebrate Mass for the Year of Consecrated Life in RTĖ television studios. Music was provided by young women from Rise of the Roses. Fr Alan Neville MSC was the celebrant and Br Conor McDonough assisted as deacon. Ten religious orders were present as well as members…

An Irishman has been appointed as an auxiliary bishop to American’s most populous Catholic diocese. Msgr David G. O’Connell, 61, a native of Co. Cork, was named by Pope Francis on Tuesday as auxiliary bishop of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The bishop-elect studied at All Hallows College in Dublin before being ordained a priest of…

The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has called on the Government “urgently” to address the homeless crisis in Dublin in light of a recent report that at least 17 pregnant women are homeless in the city at present. Claiming that senior politicians “have known about this shameful reality for quite some time”, Sinead Slattery of the…

When the international legal right to freedom of religion is compromised, other human rights abuses usually follow, Baroness Nuala O’Loan has warned. Referring to the right – contained in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – The Irish Catholic columnist quoted St John Paul II’s description of the right to freedom of…

Palestinian Christians are between a rock and a hard place writes Paul Jeffrey