The MyFaith programme for sacramental preparation has gone from strength to strength despite the lockdown, Dr Dermot Ryan of Ossory Diocese told The Irish Catholic. MyFaith is a programme of sacramental preparation which aims to allow children to work towards the celebration of the sacraments alongside their parents, with the support of their parishes. It’s…
Governments in Asia and Africa have used an “epidemiological cover” to conceal “a quiet humanitarian catastrophe”, Aid to a Church in Need has said. “Regimes which are hostile to the presence of Christians within their lands have used Covid-19 as cover for attacks and for using their proxies to either eliminate or exploit Christian communities,”…
107-year-old Meath woman Nancy Stewart has made it her mission to attend online Masses in each of Ireland’s 32 counties. Attending two or three Masses a day, she’s well underway to accomplishing her goal. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, her granddaughter Louise Coghlan had only praise for the service that most churches are providing, describing…
A Donegal priest has called on people to stop attending wakes, funerals and burials as the Covid-19 guidance is “not sinking in”. Tremendous comfort Fr John Joe Duffy CC of Dunfanaghy/Creeslough parish said that although going to wakes, funeral Masses and burials is a “tremendous comfort”, it is dangerous. “Despite public health pleas, the message…
The Church must look to its own failings in the wake of the report on the investigation into the mother and baby homes, says UCC historian Dr Gabriel Doherty. Responding to the concern that Catholicism was being used as a scapegoat for what was a wider societal failing, Dr Doherty told The Irish Catholic that…
Australia’s financial crime watchdog agency said it over-estimated by the equivalent of more than €1.24 billion the amount of money transferred from the Vatican to Australia between 2014 and 2020. According to The Australian, a daily newspaper, “A computer coding error is believed to be the source of the miscalculation”, with financial transfers involving Italy…
Samantha Power, US President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the United States’ international aid agency, is a pro-choice Catholic who comes from Ireland. If confirmed, Ms Power would head up the US Agency for International Development, a position which Mr Biden has announced he’s elevating to the National Security Council. Speaking to the U.S. Catholic,…
In one day, the Catholic Church on two continents lost two leaders to Covid-19. Both men were outspoken defenders of the church. Brazilian Cardinal Eusebio Scheid, 88, died in the interior of São Paulo state January 13, after only a few days in the hospital with Covid-19. Scotland Across the Atlantic, in Scotland, Archbishop Philip…
An Irish priest working in Kenya has paid tribute to Sr Colombiere Kelly IBVM, who died last week after spending decades changing culture and educating girls. Fr Conor Donnelly, who is based in Nairobi, said Sr Kelly went to East Africa and became principal of a Catholic school in 1952 during very challenging times. “There were…
Three North Dakota state legislators introduced a bill this week that would oblige Catholic priests to violate the seal of Confession in cases of confirmed or suspected child abuse, on penalty of imprisonment or heavy fines. The bill was introduced January 12 by a number of Republican and Democrat state senators and state representatives. The…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady