The Matt Talbot Prayer Society in Derry Diocese has released a new spiritual initiative to support families affected by addiction during their monthly Mass in St Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry. They distributed 200 ‘Spiritual Protection Packs’, each containing an icon of Jesus, an icon of Mary, a prayer card, and holy water. “There is a lot…
Pope Leo XIV marked the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States on Saturday, with a letter extending his “heartfelt congratulations to all Americans” on the occasion and urging citizens to work together “toward a more perfect union” in the present. Entrusting the country to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of…
Voluntary children’s care providers are calling for a comprehensive overhaul of Ireland’s care system in a submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality on July 9, warning that years of short-term decision-making have left the sector responding to crises rather than planning for the future. CRAVA, which represents Ireland’s voluntary residential care and…
Back-to-back ordinations in the Diocese of Down and Connor have signalled hope for vocations, with nine seminarians now in formation, according to diocesan vocations director Fr Conor McGrath. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr McGrath said the ordination of Fr Thomas Hampton in Downpatrick on Sunday, June 28, followed by the ordination of Fr Esteban…
A pastor of a prominent underground church who was detained in China in October has been released, less than two months after US President Donald Trump brought up his case when meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, his family and rights advocates said Saturday. Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri arrived in Los Angeles and “is…
On July 2 the Holy See formally declared the bishops of a breakaway traditionalist order to be in schism and excommunicated. The declaration came from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, just one day after the group illicitly made four men bishops without papal approval and in defiance of repeated warnings from senior…
The 2026 Reek Sunday pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick falls on July 26, with the announced theme being ‘Road Safety’. Fr John Kenny, Administrator of Westport parish, which includes the territory of Croagh Patrick in Co. Mayo, made a statement to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference, saying “Accordingly, and on behalf of the Croagh Patrick stakeholders’…
A week-long music pilgrimage marked the centenary of the Pontifical Irish College’s present home in Rome. Titled ‘Centenary in Song’, the celebration combined workshops, prayer, faith formation and liturgies. Eoin McCormack, Director of Lay Formation at the Pontifical Irish College, explained that the week culminated in a gala concert on Friday evening, with 30 liturgical…
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta’s humanitarian outreach assisted 9 million people in 2025 across conflict and disaster-affected regions, including Gaza and Ukraine, and has launched an emergency response in Venezuela. Speaking for the nearly 1,000‑year‑old humanitarian order, Josef Blotz, its grand hospitaller, told EWTN News Nightly about “the sobering degree of need” and the…
Archbishop Dermot Farrell has said there are “legitimate concerns” about the rate of population growth and the impact on housing and essential services, but warned that Ireland has also witnessed the “mobilisation of hatred and rejection” against migrants in its towns and cities. Speaking during Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral, Dublin, for the 14th Sunday…
Renata Steffens