Around 300 people gathered for the final Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday before the historic Dublin church closed for major restoration works expected to last around two years. Fr Kieran McDermott, Administrator of the Cathedral parish, said the turnout reflected the strong attachment many people still have to St Mary’s. “We estimated that…
A briefing from the Iona Institute based on data from Catholic dioceses in Ireland found that there has been a 30% drop in Catholic baptisms across the country over the past ten years. A majority of the decline can be accounted for by a falling birth rate, which has decreased by 18.8% on the island…
A parish priest has called for better communication between clergy, undertakers and parishioners after an experience that left him questioning whether ministry is drifting from relational to transactional. Writing in his Notebook column for The Irish Catholic, Fr Martin Delaney describes visiting a woman in his parish monthly for several years, bringing her Communion, and attending…
“For all our technology and all our progress, many people seem more restless than ever,” said Bishop of Raphoe Niall Coll during the National Novena to our Lady of Knock on August 15. Both Bishop Coll and Bishop Kevin Doran spoke at the annual Novena this year about technology’s impact on our everyday lives. “We…
Cork secondary school teacher Christine O’Hara, who started a Rosary Group in her own school of Coláiste Chríost Rí in 2022, has created a set of PowerPoints to help fellow teachers and parishioners introduce the Rosary in their schools. Speaking to The Irish Catholic about the idea, Ms O’Hara said she believes “it is a…
Bishop of Clogher Larry Duffy has warned that providing a priest for every parish is becoming increasingly difficult, as more than half of the diocese’s priests are now aged over 70. Announcing diocesan changes for 2026, Bishop Duffy said 53% of priests are over 70, while only 21 are under 65 and nine under 60.“The…
The Deputy Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Catherine McDaid has launched a new initiative at St Augustine’s Church Hall. Named ‘Pilgrims Together Trail’, the initiative offers pilgrims an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of St Columba and discover stories behind 1,500 years of Christian worship across Derry City. The trail…
A leading British bishop has said he is “deeply alarmed” by the Israeli military’s decision to declare the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh a closed military zone after a series of settler attacks on the village. Bishop James Curry, auxiliary of Westminster and Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of…
A federal high court in Nigeria has restrained authorities in the country’s Kano state and the Islamic religious police, known as Hisbah, from arresting a 22-year-old woman because she converted from Islam to Christianity and rejected a forced marriage. In its May 26 ruling, the court described the actions taken against the woman, identified by…
A joint letter from UN human rights experts warning Nigerian officials of the heightened risk of violence against Christian women and girls in the country has been made public after the government failed to respond within 60 days. The June 1 letter cited attacks against Christian women and girls in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt…
Renata Steffens