St Macartan’s Church in Augher, Co. Tyrone, has scooped the top prize in the UK’s ‘Church of the Year’ competition for 2022. St Macartan’s, also known as The Forth Chapel, is located in the Clogher Valley, dates from 1838 – 1846 and was once the cathedral of the diocese of Clogher. Speaking to The Irish…
Staff Reporter Plans to reform hate crime laws have sparked widespread opposition, with more than 3,600 submissions from the public, elected representatives, political parties and academics received by Government. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Laois-Offaly Independent Carol Nolan TD said that there are “serious concerns” around the laws. “In particular I am worried about…
Housing charity the Peter McVerry Trust had 680 active ‘housing first’ tenancies across 14 local authorities by the end of last year. The charity published its annual report on Tuesday and announced it worked with more than 10,000 people in 2021, an increase of almost 30% on the previous year. The charity, which is now active…
The embattled Lord Mayor of Dublin has insisted that it was always her intention to keep the traditional nativity scene outside Mansion House, minus the animals. Addressing her fellow councillors on Monday, Mayor Caroline Conroy said she wanted to deal with “one misunderstanding” that had arisen through “erroneous” reporting in the media. “There will be…
French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, former head of the French bishops’ conference, admitted to abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. The revelation came in a letter from Cardinal Ricard read by Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the bishops’ conference, during a news conference on abuse November 7, during the French bishops’ general assembly. The…
Parish Priest Fr John Joe Duffy has said the reality of the Creeslough tragedy is becoming more apparent as the “numbness and shock” begins to ease, following the first month’s mind. A month on from the devastating explosion which killed 10 people in the small Donegal community, Fr Duffy said he experienced comfort from counselling…
The economic crisis in Cuba continues to impact the population, this time affecting Catholics specifically because the lack of wheat flour has meant that no more Communion hosts can be made. The St. Teresa Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Havana announced the news Wednesday. “We inform all the dioceses that there are no longer hosts for…
Overseas development charity Trócaire has said the Taoiseach is “relabelling” old funding aimed at easing the impact of climate change on poorer countries at the UN climate change conference, COP27 in Egypt. Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced to the conference on Tuesday that Ireland will contribute €10 million to the Global Shield initiative for 2023, “to protect the most…
Churches must find practical solutions to the energy crisis, says Fr Peter O’Reilly, who questioned the ethics of heating large, inefficient churches,. Churches can keep their energy costs down and tackle fossil fuel use by using parish halls or centres instead of churches “created for numbers that no longer exist and impossible to heat”, the…
One of the church’s leading experts on safeguarding and clerical sexual abuse has said the exclusion of women from seminary formation needs to change. Jesuit Fr Hans Zollner spoke to more than 200 people at a ‘Stolen Lives’ webinar organised by the Root and Branch lay reform movement in Britain in conjunction with Survivor Voices…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones