Addressing the annual meeting of the Joint Managerial Body, the umbrella organisation for faith-based secondary schools in Ireland, Professor Eamonn Conway of the University of Notre Dame Australia said that three out of ten teachers under 29 years of age report not “witnessing” to Catholic ethos at all or doing so only to a limited…
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a new report last week highlighting the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world. This year, the countries topping USCIRF’s list of the world’s most egregious religious freedom violators were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,…
For the first time, an Arab Christian woman has been elected as the rector of an Israeli university — the University of Haifa. The announcement of Professor Mouna Maroun’s appointment was made earlier in April amid tensions with Iran and while anti-Israel protests were mounting at universities around the world. Ms Maroun belongs to the…
EXCLUSIVE A lack of formation and Canon Law are “major roadblocks” to embedding synodality and co-responsibility in Ireland, Irish dioceses have said in new submissions ahead of the October listening sessions in Rome. Additionally, there is “complacency and paralysis” when it comes to laity assuming responsibility locally, despite the “pressing need” to involve laity in…
The Archbishop of Dublin has warned that the Church can’t be reduced to buildings, particularly at a time when preaching the Gospel is needed more than ever before “in the history of the Church in Ireland”. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Archbishop Dermot Farrell said that “the Church can’t be reduced to buildings, or even…
The number of Catholic weddings made up just 35% of all those taking place in the State – the lowest recorded figure since the year 2000 – with civil ceremonies (32%) catching up quickly, marriage statistics for 2023 show. The proportion of Catholic weddings fell from 40% in 2022, while the percentage of civil ceremonies…
Those who challenge modern certainties are “taken to the edge of the cliff”, the Abbot of Glenstal said in a homily at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), encouraging openness to all knowledge in education at a time when free-speech debates rage on college campuses. Fr Brendan Coffey OSB also railed against the “irrational fear” behind a…
Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the RDS on Saturday as women’s rights group The Countess held a conference highlighting the impact of ‘gender ideology’ on Irish society. As protestors shouted “shame on you”, some attendees reported being spat on as they tried to enter the conference. One attendee mentioned how she had to enter through the…
Two young saints set to be canonised in 2025, Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, can bring young Irish people to God, an Irish priest involved in saints’ canonisation causes has said. While most people think of saints as being older or from centuries ago, Blessed Pier Giorgio – who died age 24 –…
Muslim extremists set on fire several homes of Christians in Minya, a province in southern Egypt, in a continuation of anti-Christian violence less than two weeks before Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. According to The New Arab, when anti-Christian fanatics failed to dispossess Christians of their homes in retribution for attempting to build a church in…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady
Renata Steffens