A photograph from the installation of Bishop Donal McKeown as the new Bishop of Derry last year, won a prestigious award at the annual Press Photographers Association of Ireland’s competition. The photograph by Margaret McLaughlin of The Irish News, titled ‘The Holy Gust’, captures the moment when a gust of wind caught the robes of…

Church leaders have started to distribute a pastoral letter on marriage to parishes in the North, after doubts were raised about the Church’s commitment to promoting marriage when it was revealed that only a small quantity of the leaflets had been printed. Earlier this month, The Irish Catholic established that only 170,000 copies of The…

Prayer is an important part of daily life according to best-selling author Cecelia Ahern. Speaking on RTÉ’s The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne, the 33-year-old author of PS I Love You and 10 other books said she prays to God every night. Describing prayer as an honest conversation in which people “say the things that you feel,…

The head of the Catholic Principals Association (CPA) has welcomed Archbishop Eamon Martin’s “clear and unambiguous assertion” that “no young person should be turned away from a Catholic school on the basis of their mark in an entrance test”. In a homily launching Catholic Schools Week in the North, the Archbishop of Armagh said “in…

Dioceses across the island of Ireland have begun to ask parishes to provide feedback on the Lineamenta discussion document from last year’s extraordinary synod on the family, in order to collate a report from the Irish Church in advance of the second session of the bishops’ synod in October. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, who…

A leading member of Focolare in Ireland has welcomed the start of the cause of beatification and canonisation of Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement, an international organisation that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood.   “It brings great joy to many that Chiara is to be put forward for beatification…

Michael Fisher The Bishop of Clogher has made a special appeal at a Mass in Co. Monaghan for anyone with information about Columba McVeigh, abducted and killed by the IRA in 1975 and then secretly buried, to come forward. At a Mass in Carrickroe, near Emyvale, Bishop Liam MacDaid urged anyone who might have “even a small shred of evidence” about where…

Elderly members of the Salesian community had to be evacuated in their pyjamas in the early hours last week, when the chapel at the community’s residence in the Dublin suburb of Crumlin was engulfed in flames. The Salesian Provincial Secretary, Fr Pat Egan said the fire alarm went off at around 5.45am on Thursday and…

The Pro-Life Campaign has insisted that The Irish Times has “little or no credibility” when it comes to reporting on abortion after new documents reveal how the paper tried to play down an instance when it published an abortion related story which was found to have no basis in fact. On August 23, 2013 a front-page story…

An inter-denominational festival aimed at promoting cross-community friendship and global generosity has been launched by Belfast’s Lord Mayor. Now in its third year, the 4 Corners Festival, which runs from January 29 to February 8, grew out of conversations between Fr Martin Magill, parish priest at Sacred Heart parish and Rev. Steve Stockman of Fitzroy Presbyterian…