Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Franciscan Sister Raffaella Petrini to the second-ranking position in the government of the Vatican City State. Sr Petrini is the first woman and non-clergy member to be secretary general of the Vatican’s governorate. She replaces Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who was promoted to president, effective October 1. The governorate is the…
Category: News
Parishes feel the pinch from ‘rocketing’ heating costs
Ruadhán Jones and Brandon Scott Rising energy costs are having a dramatic impact on parishes’ ability to heat churches, with some forced to resort to rationing and leaving it off for large parts of the week. Recent months have seen a huge increase in energy prices which are predicted to continue to rise. Coupled with…
Crucial decisions urged for COP26 as poorest suffer climate impacts
It is “unacceptable” Ireland remains the second highest emitter per capita in the EU, according to Church charity Trócaire in a policy document ahead of the COP26 Climate Change Summit taking place in Glasgow this week. The charity said that while Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill aims to reduce emissions by 51%…
Religious people more likely to take personal responsibility for climate
People who describe themselves as religious are significantly more likely to take responsibility for climate change than the general population. New research also reveals that young people are particularly inclined to lay the blame for climate change at the hands of government rather than taking personal responsibility. As world leaders gather in Glasgow to try…
Metaverse a ‘distraction’ from real-world issues
Mark Zuckerberg’s plans for the ‘metaverse’ have been criticised as “pure escapism” by Jesuit priest Fr Kevin O’Higgins. Facebook’s Mr Zuckerberg recently announced his company’s rebranding as ‘Meta’ which he described as more in-line with their plans and focus on building the ‘metaverse’. The metaverse is envisioned as a breakthrough of the internet into the…
ACP claim bishops are targeting priests
The Association of Catholic Priests has claimed that some bishops have banned gay priests from working in parishes. However, the group did not name any diocese in a series of allegations contained in a statement released to the media ahead of the annual meeting this week. Another claim from the group is that some priests…
Priest criticises decision to potentially close hospital’s emergency department
Ahead of a mass rally held last Saturday, which saw in excess of 10,000 people take to Navan’s streets to protest against the potential closure of the hospital’s emergency department, Fr Declan Hurley, Parish Administrator of Navan Parish, Co. Meath, spoke to The Irish Catholic and explained why he believes its emergency department should be…
Joy in Navan as Fr Louis celebrates 25 years
There was a jubilant atmosphere as Navan parish in Co. Meath celebrated the 25th year of ordination of Fr Louis Illah, who arrived from the parish of St Peter and Paul in Egume, Nigeria in 2013. Speaking to The Irish Catholic after the celebratory Mass, which saw Fr Louis presented with gifts from Navan Parish…
Church response to Govt criticises its lack of housing ambition
Archbishop Eamon Martin has criticised a lack of ambition in the Government’s Housing for All plan in a written response to Minister Darragh O’Brien’s request that the Church identify property it owns to use in tackling the housing crisis. While welcoming the plan, Archbishop Martin wrote that “sadly”, Ireland’s current national crisis in housing has…
Only quarter of new PSNI recruits Catholic
Only 24% of new recruits to the PSNI (Police Service Northern Ireland) have come from a Catholic background according to the latest statistics. Catholic officers The figures demonstrate ongoing problems hiring Catholic officers. Of the 193 officers recruited in 2020, only 46 were Catholic while 144 (75%) were protestant. The PSNI has stated a commitment…


Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones






