Pope Francis will conclude the Catholic Church’s month-long rosary marathon with special prayers to Mary, Undoer of Knots, one of his favorite titles for the mother of Jesus. Bishop Bertram Johannes Meier of Augsburg, Germany, will bring an icon of Mary Undoer of Knots to the prayer service on May 31 in the Vatican Gardens,…
Category: News
Theft of Mary Queen of Scots’ rosary a ‘tragic loss’ for Catholic history
The theft of the gold rosary that Mary, Queen of Scots took to her execution is a “very tragic loss” for Catholic history, a curator has said. Jan Graffius, the curator of the Stonyhurst Collections, made the comment after police reported that thieves broke into Arundel Castle in West Sussex, southern England, on May 21, stealing…
Call for bishops to trust parishes on Confirmation and Communion
Bishops in the Republic have been urged to trust priests in parishes with decisions around holding First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies. It comes after the Department of the Taoiseach sent a circular to the Church hierarchy advising they postpone the ceremonies of First Holy Communion and Confirmation for May and June, to be resumed…
Poots refuses to say if he’d accept Mass invitation
EXCLUSIVE The incoming DUP leader Edwin Poots has refused to say whether or not he would be willing to attend Mass if invited. A spokesman for Mr Poots told The Irish Catholic that the party has worked with the Catholic Church on a number of issues. However, when asked whether or not Mr Poots would…
Vocations boom follows in NET Ministries’ wake
NET Ministries Ireland has continued to place God in the hearts of young people around the island, with a large number of missionaries finding their vocations to religious life and marriage in recent years. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Executive Director Tony Foy said that over the past 18 months, six young men have entered…
Dublin archdiocese alone in Baptism ban
The Sacrament of Baptism is continuing in every diocese in the Republic except for the Archdiocese of Dublin, The Irish Catholic has found. Baptisms are continuing on a smaller scale in every diocese around the Republic, and in the North, while they remain prohibited alongside First Communion and Confirmation in Dublin archdiocese. However, a baptism…
St Patrick honoured in Belarus with first Orthodox church
The church – the first dedicated to “St Patriky, the Enlightener of Ireland” by an Eastern Orthodox Church – was blessed and officially opened on the grounds of an Irish-funded orphanage in Belarus. The Church of St Patrick at Vesnova, in southern Belarus, was funded by the Belarusian Orthodox Church, and was dedicated to the…
Places of worship key to post-pandemic recovery
A new report has revealed that Churches will be “vital” in helping to restore “individual and community wellbeing” and building resilience. The research, carried out by the University of York in England, saw over 5,500 people surveyed from across a range of backgrounds, and the results disclosed the impact closing churches had on social contact…
We can’t be indifferent to unborn’s cries, says bishop on abortion referendum anniversary
We cannot be indifferent to “the cries of… the unborn who may be denied life”, said Bishop Brendan Leahy, adding that an Ireland “worth working for” is one where all life matters. The bishop’s statement came on the third anniversary of the referendum that removed protections for the unborn in Ireland, May 25. Bishop Leahy…
Argentine lawyers take legal action against restrictions on Mass attendance
The Catholic Lawyers Corporation of Argentina filed a writ of amparo on May 18 contending that recent health regulations decreed during the Covid-19 pandemic “flagrantly violate” the free exercise of worship and religion. An increase of coronavirus cases in April, especially in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, which accounts for 40% of the country’s population,…

Chai Brady





Ruadhán Jones


