Fr Dawid Aksenczuk was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Down and Connor on Sunday, August 27, in St Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast. Bishop Donal McKeown, the diocese’s apostolic administrator, told Fr Aksenczuk that his ordination comes at “a time of renewal and reimagining” for the diocese. The northern diocese is currently awaiting the…
St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh was packed to capacity well before Sunday’s 11am Mass began marking 150 years since the dedication of the church which dominates the skyline of Ireland’s ecclesiastical capital. Local parishioners — brimming with pride for the place where they made their First Holy Communion, were married, had their children baptised and…
The government of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, August 23, revoked the legal personhood of the Society of Jesus and ordered the transfer of all its assets to the state. The move by the dictatorship takes place amid a growing wave of harassment against the religious order. According to ministerial agreement 105-2023-OSFL, published August 23…
More than 100 young people attended a Marian conference in All Hallows, Dublin, to hear talks from poets, priests and theologians on the theme ‘Under Mary’s Mantle’. The conference, organised by the Legion of Mary, took place August 19-20, with guest speakers including poet and convert Sally Read, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, Dr William A Thomas,…
Ireland’s national Eucharistic and Marian Shrine has reported an increase in pilgrims and visitors this summer, after a sluggish post-pandemic restart last year and two years when on-off Covid-19 restrictions devastated numbers. Tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to Knock in Co. Mayo over the past two weeks for the traditional novena, with rector Fr…
The example of “messenger for God” Donal Walsh, the teen whose faith and poise as he battled cancer captivated Ireland, is inspiring interest in the Faith among young people today, his mother has said. Young people are seeking “guidance for their faith and spirituality and see an example in Donal that they can relate to”,…
It would be “foolhardy” to deny that there are “aspects of sectarianism” in the PSNI, the chairman of the North’s Catholic Police Guild (CPG) has warned. Speaking to The Irish Catholic Supt Gerry Murray said no Catholic police officer should have to deal with sectarian comments. This comes after a recent article detailed sectarian slurs…
Following mob violence in east Pakistan that saw thousands of Muslims burn and vandalise churches and Christian homes, Pakistan-based missionary, Fr Liam O’Callaghan SSC described the scenes as “appalling” and “disturbing”. More than 100 people have since been arrested in the city of Jaranwala, where violence was sparked August 18 by claims that two Christian…
The number of abortions taking place in Ireland are “out of control”, the Life Institute has said, after new figures suggest as many as 10,000 terminations could be carried out in 2023. New data covering the first six months of the year indicate more than 5,000 abortions took place between January and June 2023. Figures…
Following the deaths of two competitors in an Ironman event in Youghal, Co. Cork, parish priest Fr William Bermingham has said that the whole town is “saddened” and that the community will be praying for both men who died during the event. The men who died have been named as 64-year-old Ivan Chittenden, from Toronto,…
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