A politician’s question to the Minister for Health, asking whether it is an offence to organise public Mass, was ‘disallowed’ by the Ceann Comhairle. Carol Nolan TD of the Laois-Offaly constituency attempted to put the question to Minister Stephen Donnelly. She asked: “To ask the Minister for Health if it is an offence to organise…
Small churches in rural Ireland may have to close as depopulation and the devastating effects of Covid will lead to many being unsustainable, according to the Bishop of Killaloe. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Bishop Fintan Monahan said: “With the declining number of people that are living in rural areas, rural depopulation – it’s a…
Fr Gerard Quirke said celebrating Easter Mass at a penal times Mass rock on Achill Island has a “particular resonance” given the legal ban on Masses. Fr Quirke of the Achill parish celebrated 7am Mass at the site which was used during the era of penal laws when Catholics endured restrictions on their civil liberties.…
Pope Francis’ letter to Northern Irish Presbyterian Rev. Norman Hamilton “modelled respectful dialogue” as the North faces “fraught times”, said Fr Martin Magill. Fr Magill, a Belfast-based priest and organiser of 4 Corners Belfast, praised the letter for “modelling dialogue and respectful dialogue”. “I welcome it especially because we are in another of our fraught…
Euthanasia and assisted suicide offer a “tap-out option”, rather than greater dignity, according to 24 year-old disability rights advocate Conor Lynott, who himself has a diagnosis of Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. Lost their way “If it’s there, people might take euthanasia as an easy option,” he told The Irish Catholic. “It gets rid of the…
The memory of the Holocaust has been used by “cynical actors” to campaign and spread conspiracies during the pandemic, according to Israel’s ambassador to Ireland. Speaking at a webinar on Holocaust remembrance, Ambassador Ophir Kariv said it is easy to spot Holocaust denial but far more difficult to recognise Holocaust distortion, which has increased during the…
While a recent massacre in Mozambique has drawn headlines internationally, the country has been dealing with violence for years, which has largely gone unacknowledged in the international community, said leaders of a Catholic charity and peace organisation present in the country. Johan Viljoen, director of Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI), which is an entity of…
While fewer than half of American adults responding to a recent poll said they are members of a Church, synagogue or mosque, the findings do not necessarily mean that people have lost faith in God, a pair of Church observers said. Church membership in 2020 dropped to 47% of the more than 6,100 respondents to…
The Easter messaging from the Irish Government has come under fire after Boris Johnson’s strongly-worded statement. “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is Christianity’s most important festival,” the British prime minister said, continuing, “And that, while churches are open, the ongoing coronavirus restrictions mean that once again, it won’t be possible for…
The student Knights of St Columbanus at Queen’s University Belfast undertook a walk, run or cycle from Bangor to Bobbio, Italy, this Lent in an attempt to raise funds for St Vincent de Paul. The initiative took inspiration from the pilgrimage route of their patron – St Columbanus – and sought to complete the equivalent…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones