With just a week to go to Christmas, many parishes have pulled out all the stops to ensure that as many people as is safely possibly can attend Mass. Many areas reported large socially-distanced queues of parishioners applying for tickets to attend one of the many extra Christmas liturgies. A lot of priests have decided…
A Belfast-based priest has said he is “genuinely concerned” about loneliness among his parishioners and the future emotional impact Covid-19 restrictions could have. Fr Martin Magill PP of St John’s said a parishioner told him “the loneliness is killing me”, a sentiment he says was echoed by others who approached him. “I suppose I am…
Parishes have had to innovate to meet the demand for Mass, setting up booking systems, putting on extra Masses and appealing for charity in response. St Eunan’s Cathedral St Eunan’s Cathedral Letterkenny told The Irish Catholic that they usually have 4,000 attendees over Christmas Eve and Christmas day. They know they can’t cater for all…
Pope Francis’ “hugely significant” declaration of 2021 as ‘The Year of St Joseph’ has been “warmly welcomed” by Fr Richard Gibbons of Knock Shrine. Fr Gibbons said that the announcement is especially significant in the context of the pandemic. Fr Gibbons said that St Joseph “invites us to place all our prayers and intercessions in…
Crisis pregnancy organisation Gianna Care has told of “a really good year” for their services, despite the obvious challenges presented by Covid-19. Challenges Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Gianna Care director Carolyn O’Meara told of the challenges the year posed for everybody, and how it affected their often hands-on, in-person work. “We’d a lot of…
An Irish singer and a faith-based community group have raised almost €25,000 in separate appeals for Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon due to conflict. Róisín O’Reilly, from Cavan but now living in Dublin recorded her interpretation of the Christmas classic ‘O Holy Night’ with the aim of raising funds for refugee schoolchildren in Tyre,…
Antrim GAA kicked off St Vincent de Paul’s Christmas fundraising appeal with a traditional music evening raising £8,307.38 from an original target of £5,000. In previous years their Christmas #SaffronAid Appeal has been supported by clubs across the county providing St Vincent de Paul with 5,000 shoeboxes but, due to the pandemic, the traditional form…
The project leaders believe the example of Italian teen Bl. Carlo Acutis will inspire the youth of Cork through a new online course. The diocese of Cloyne launched their four-month online project aimed at 13-18-year olds on December 8. Fr Eamonn Roache, one of the project’s organisers, told The Irish Catholic that the project was…
Bishop Donal McKeown has launched a year-long celebration to mark St Columba’s 1500th birthday with Mass at the church named for the saint in Long Tower, Derry. Children from local schools joined remotely. In his homily, Bishop McKeown urged people to see St Columba as a role model. He pointed out that the main Christian…
An initiative which sees spiritual support brought to those living in care facilities has been hailed as “much in demand” by Bishop Michael Router. The effort is being led by the Northern Pastoral Network (NPN), a cross-boarder group of pastoral care workers from Catholic dioceses, and sees prayer resources provided via PowerPoint for use during…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady