Pope Francis names three women to office that helps him choose bishops Ten days after saying he would name two women to the group that helps him choose bishops, Pope Francis appointed three women to the office. The Vatican announced on July 13 that the Pope had named 14 new members of the Dicastery for Bishops. For the first…
New discipleship programme in Westmeath A new young adult faith formation programme is due to open at the Céilí Catholic community centre, Co. Westmeath, in September 2022. The residential programme of formation in Evangelisation and Missionary Discipleship is being offered to Catholic young adults, 18 years and over, who would spend nine months living in…
Parishioners will have to get used to laypeople leading burials and other funeral liturgies due to the shortage of priests under new plans unveiled by Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy. With few ordinations and an aging clergy, laypeople will become a key part of the jigsaw in providing ceremonies for grieving families Bishop Leahy told…
The decision to give integrated schools in the North a £1.9 million funding package has been described as “bias” and disregards “the current emergency crisis within our education system”. Aontú’s Gemma Brolly, who is a teacher based in Derry, said that while her party support integrated education as a choice for parents, they should not…
Staff reporter The European Parliament (EP) is becoming a “focal point of pro-abortion activism” after parliamentarians passed a resolution decrying the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade according to an Irish legal counsel based in Strasbourg. The resolution adopted July 7 saw the EP criticise the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs vs…
The pace of the Irish Government’s response to religious orders wanting to donate land for housing “doesn’t match what is wanted in a crisis”, Sophia Housing have said. Tony O’Riordan, CEO of the charity that helps religious orders to donate land for housing, told The Irish Catholic that orders show “extraordinary” generosity and good will,…
Better faith formation and more investment in lay ministries is needed as a “top priority” in Dublin Diocese parishes have said. All 197 parishes around Ireland’s largest diocese have been meeting over the past month as part of the ‘Building Hope’ report, to discuss the rationalisation of resources and new parish partnerships. As part of…
Christian mechanic Ashfaq Masih has been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan after allegedly saying that Jesus Christ is the only true prophet. Reading out the 12-page judgment July 4, Khalid Wazir, additional session judge of the Lahore High Court, sentenced Mr Masih to death and fined him 100,000 rupees (€1,246). Mr Masih, 34,…
Senator Sharon Keogan has criticised an Oireachtas report that calls for Ireland to regulate international surrogacy, calling it “biased”. The Joint Committee on International Surrogacy recommended that an existing bill, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022, be amended to include international surrogacy. The committee added that the commissioning parents should be allowed to apply…
The agenda for the Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted July 6 after more than 60 of the 277 members staged a protest over issues regarding women in the Church, including the defeat of a motion to formalise support for the ordination of women as deacons. A sense of crisis among plenary members, lay…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady