Dwindling vocations and an aging sisterhood has lead to the closure of St Joseph’s Carmelite convent in Loughrea, Co. Galway, founded 1680. Of the five remaining sisters there, three will join the Carmelite convent in New Ross, Wexford, one will go to Dublin and one will return to her country of origin, the Philippines. Speaking…
Only one-third of Irish dioceses have an exorcist despite the Vatican requiring each diocese to have at least one specially trained priest, researchers have discovered. Out of Ireland’s 26 dioceses there are nine exorcists according to a group of European academics, fewer per diocese than other countries in their study. However, the limited new research,…
The Catholic chaplaincy at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) has partnered with L’Arche Belfast to provide them with shelter and space for their activities over the winter months. L’Arche Belfast is part of a worldwide organisation which seeks to provide support for those with intellectual disabilities. With the arrival of Covid-19 in Ireland in March and…
NET Ministries Ireland has finished six weeks of training and has sent their five teams off to their local areas despite a “battle” due to Covid-19, NET Ministries Ireland Director Tony Foy has told The Irish Catholic. Following a day of celebration of their commissioning, Mr Foy said, “The day was great. It was very,…
Government restrictions on religion are at their highest since tracking began in 2007, the Pew Research Center has said in its new report, finding that 56 countries reached “high” or “very high” levels of restrictions on religion in 2018. “In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion – that is, laws, policies…
Almost 300 healthcare workers signed an open letter to the Minister of Health rejecting the legalisation of ‘at-home’ abortions in Northern Ireland. The 277 healthcare workers drafted the letter following a campaign by abortion advocates for the provision of over-the-phone abortion services. The letter demands better care for women and children than “unsafe and unacceptable…
A Polish cardinal recently sanctioned by the Vatican for sexual abuse has died at the age of 97. Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz died the morning of November 16, the Polish bishops’ conference announced. Earlier this month, the apostolic nunciature in Poland announced disciplinary measures against the cardinal on November 6 as the result of an investigation…
The U.N. migration agency renewed its call for increased search and rescue efforts after another tragic shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea claimed the lives of 74 migrant men, women and children. According to the U.N. International Organisation for Migration, also known as IOM, a boat carrying more than 120 people capsized off the coast of…
A renowned “tower of strength” priest who ministered to people devasted by the 1993 Greysteel Massacre in the North has died. Fr Stephen Kearney (76) was the curate of Faughanvale and Lower Cumber parish in Derry before he died on Friday. He gave strength to the families of the eight people who were killed after…
Filipinos appealed for help as a fifth tropical storm or typhoon hit their country in a three-week period. These included the strongest typhoon since 2013 and the biggest floods since 2009. The latest, Typhoon Vamco – or Ulysses as it is known in Philippines – left at least 42 dead and 20 missing. Rescue workers…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady