Relics of Venerable Matt Talbot were recently hosted at the First Friday evening Mass at the Church of All Saints, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, by the Knights of St Columbanus. A First-Class relic, a tip of the Venerable finger, his rosary beads and the chain he was wearing when he collapsed and died, were brought to Ballymena from…
The Cause of Willie Doyle is progressing well and should go to Rome in 2026 the Bishop of Meath has told The Irish Catholic. “The Theological Commission has completed its work, the Historical Commission will be finished within a month and the Tribunal hopes to have finished its work by the end of February. All…
Bishop Martin Hayes, Irish Bishops’ Liaison to the Irish Prison Service and to the Northern Ireland Prison Service, asked for prayers to be said at Mass this weekend for prisoners and their families. He said prisoners are vulnerable to mental health difficulties, but prayer and spirituality help them to manage their stress and anxiety. These…
Priorswood Parish is proposing a new development with two apartment buildings, communal spaces and landscaping on the land around St Francis of Assisi Church. In a recent update, PP Fr Martin Bennett made clear, “No plans have been submitted yet,” as they are looking for parishioners’ opinions and feedback. The development was thought of as…
Exclusive In an extensive and exclusive interview with this paper, Archbishop Eamon Martin has said in response to a question on calls by some priests for the sacraments to be taken out of schools that he does “feel that we should try to develop some pilot projects for the sacramental preparation, outside of the school…
Bishop Brendan Leahy led a Mass of Thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of Boards of Management in the Catholic Primary Schools in the Diocese of Limerick on Monday, December 1. The event took place in St John’s Cathedral and gathered current and former board members. In his homily, Bishop Leahy said, “At times, we can…
The overwhelming rejection of the Government’s recent family and care referendum shows the Irish people still hold a deep instinct for the family, the Apostolic Nuncio said. Speaking at the annual general meeting of Family Solidarity, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor said the vote revealed that political and cultural leaders “misread something essential” in Irish society.…
The Diocese of Derry will complete its discussions on forming new pastoral areas by Easter 2026, announced Bishop Donal McKeown in his pastoral letter for the beginning of Advent. The new arrangements will bring parishes together in shared mission, with decisions grounded in prayerful discernment rather than administrative necessity. Bishop McKeown said his hope is…
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan has urged Catholics to embrace Advent as a time of “patient, theological hope”, rejecting the “negativity and doom” often spoken about the future of vocations in Ireland. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Bishop Cullinan reflected on Pope Leo XIV’s address in Lebanon this week, delivered amid severe regional instability, and said the…
At the end of November in Nigeria at St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, in the north-central region: 303 students and 12 teachers were taken away by a group of armed men. Irish Sister Sr Mary Barron, Superior General of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), the congregation that runs the schools where…
Renata Steffens