A prominent Irish Jesuit has publicly urged bishops, including those in Ireland, to ask Rome to place the question of women’s priestly ordination on the agenda of the study groups accompanying the Synod. “I repeat my proposal,” Fr Gerry O’Hanlon SJ writes in February edition of The Furrow, “that bishops, including Irish bishops, who have qualms…
Smoking and vaping have been added to the Confirmation pledge taken by young teens, which formerly only included a reference to alcohol and illicit drugs. Bishop Michael Router, Liaison Bishop with the Irish Bishop’s Drug Initiative, explained the rewording of the pledge on The Joe Finnegan Show on February 16, citing that the decision came…
Tuesday of last week saw the massacre of eight people, including several children, in Canada. The lack of clarity in what had happened began with the police. A police active alert said “the suspect was described ‘as female in a dress with brown hair’” while a later briefing “referred to the suspect as a ‘gunperson in a dress’…”…
Plans for an Irish campus by a US Catholic university at the former Mount Melleray Abbey in Co. Waterford have reached an “advanced stage”, according to the Cistercian Order in Ireland. In a statement, the Cistercian community at Our Lady of Silence Abbey said discussions with Florida-based Ave Maria University on a proposed “educational and…
“Sadly, this is not an isolated incident,” said Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign in response to a case of coercive abortion before the courts this week, renewing debates over safeguards within Ireland’s abortion law. A man in his 20s appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court after pleading guilty to unlawfully ending the life of…
New data from Amárach Market Research has shown that 63% of unmarried Roman Catholics in Ireland under the age of 35 want to get married in a Catholic Church. Their primary reasoning is religious belief, followed by tradition and cultural significance. Accord Director Tony Shanahan reacted to the data over St Valentine’s weekend, highlighting that…
The Irish Catholic, operating since 1888, has warned its future is being commercially threatened after An Post said it cannot provide paid-for postal collection services at the publication’s new Dublin 2 address, citing capacity constraints. This newspaper has endured through the Rising, wars, civil wars, and more recently the Covid pandemic – the paper believes…
In a bid to stop members of a breakaway traditionalist society from incurring excommunications through the illicit ordination of new bishops, the Vatican has offered a path forward based on theological dialogue. A February 12 communique published by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by its prefect, Argentine Cardinal Victor…
The chapel of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, was filled last Sunday evening to honour and celebrate the music and ministry of Fr Liam Lawton. Many of Fr Lawton’s family and friends attended the event including Archbishop Eamon Martin, singers Eimear Quinn, Malachi Cush, Karl McGuckin and the Carlow Cathedral Choir. Mary Kennedy presented the evening’s…
St Joseph’s Redemptorists, Dundalk marked their 50th anniversary as a parish community last Sunday with Mass and refreshments afterwards. The main celebrant, Archbishop Eamon Martin, was joined by “six or seven concelebrants,” explained Fr Brendan Callanan CSsR, Rector and Administrator. The Irish dancing school Scoil rince ui corgharle “gave some more joy to the celebration,”…
Renata Steffens