A day of celebration in Downpatrick turned to shock on Sunday, June 28, when a fire broke out at the former Convent of Mercy beside St Patrick’s Church just hours after Fr Thomas Hampton was ordained to the priesthood there. Fr Eugene O’Neill PP said Fr Thomas Hampton’s ordination on Sunday afternoon had been “a…
The Redemptoris Archdiocesan Mater Seminary in Dundalk, Co. Louth, had a new church and seminary extension inaugurated last Sunday, June 28. Presiding over the event, Archbishop Eamon Martin mentioned that this is Armagh’s missionary seminary, and said that “Ireland, which once sent thousands of missionaries around the world, is now in need of mission herself.”…
Financial statements for The Parish of Urney and Castlefin have revealed the east Donegal parish is in a €18,315 deficit. The parish has delivered a warning about the difficult financial challenges it expects to face. The accounts were prepared by Moore (NI) Accounting in Derry and submitted to the Derry Diocesan Trust for inclusion in…
Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry has announced clergy appointments for the diocese to take effect from July 15. The diocesan changes are as follows: Fr Padraig Walsh, Our Lady and St Brendan’s, Tralee, to be PP Castleisland. Fr Teddy Linehan (Hospital Chaplain) to be PP Our Lady and St Brendan’s, Tralee. Fr Kieran O’Brien Adm.…
Bishop of Achonry and Elphin Kevin Doran welcomed the news that RTÉ One will broadcast a feature documentary Heart of a Servant – Father Flanagan story on July 6, citing the documentary as an “excellent production focusing on a very important personality in our recent faith history.” Born in Bishop Doran’s own diocese, Boys Town…
The President of Dublin City University, Prof. Daire Keogh, was invested as a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great, an award bestowed by Pope Leo XIV, during the Annual Mass of the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland at Newman University Church, Dublin. Archbishop Dermot Farrell conferred the papal honour in the…
Bishop Ger Nash of Ferns has announced changes in the diocese, which take effect from September 1. The new appointments are as follows. Fr John Paul Sheridan, Co-PP, Annacurra, Kilaveney, Kilanerin, Carnew Pastoral Area, is appointed to a full-time post in St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth. Fr Brian Whelan, Co-PP in Ferns, Bunclody Pastoral Area,…
A Pakistani trial court has acquitted a blind Christian man who spent 10 months in jail after being charged with blasphemy, an offense that carries a mandatory death sentence under the country’s laws. The director of the UK-based Minority Concern Pakistan, Aftab Alexander Mughal, told Crux Now the acquittal is an encouraging development but warned…
A pair of nearly 300-year-old Galway silver chalices made by Richard Joyce in 1730 and 1731, which had been in England for over a century, have returned to Galway. Marking their homecoming, Mass was celebrated in the Poor Clare Monastery Chapel on June 26, ahead of the chalices going on public display at Galway City…
Bishop Iyad Akram Twal, auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said Christians face an increasingly precarious situation in the Middle East. War, economic instability, and continued emigration are placing increasing pressure on the Christian presence in the region, driving a significant decline in communities across the Holy Land and neighboring countries, Twal said…
Renata Steffens