Archbishop Michael Neary has urged parishioners to challenge priests to ensure that they are living up to their vocation. He was speaking in Knock Shrine on Sunday as he presided at the ordination of Fr Shane Costello. Pointing out that seven priests of the Tuam Archdiocese have died in the last year, Dr Neary said…
Category: News
Social workers call for adult safeguarding legislation
The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) has said that the Government must push ahead with legislation to protect nursing home residents in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis where many of those who died were vulnerable people in homes. Welcoming the expert panel report on the issue, the social workers’ body insisted that “access…
Nuncio and bishops call on Nigeria to protect its citizens
Archbishop Antonio Filipazzi, Papal ambassador to Nigeria, has said the government was not doing enough to protect its citizens from violence, insurgents and other social vices. He also said the people being killed were not just Christians, but also Muslims. Speaking at a news conference as part of the finale of year-long celebrations of the…
Cork parishes pilot online donation scheme
Eight Cork parishes will be the first to provide a secure online donation system in the diocese of Cork and Ross. In an online statement, the diocese explained that the new measures were being trialled to combat the “substantial reduction” to priests’ salaries and parish incomes. Before the pandemic, “people have made it possible for…
Catholic archbishop prays outside of prison for detained Belarusian protestors
The archbishop of Minsk prayed outside of a prison in Belarus where detained protesters were reported to have been tortured. With a rosary in his hands, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz [pictured] walked the streets in front of the Akrestsin Street pre-trial detention centre at 3pm on August 19, reported the website of the Catholic Church in…
Well-known philosopher Fr Donal Daly dies
Tributes have been paid to a late priest-philosopher who helped form generations of both priests and lay students at Maynoooth. Fr Donal Daly SVD – who was 84 – died “peacefully and patiently” after what confrères described as a long illness. Born in Fermoy in Co. Cork in 1936, he entered the noviciate of the…
Colombian bishops pray for peace following 13 murders
The Colombian Bishops’ Conference appealed for peace following two brutal massacres of young people last week in the country. In a statement, the bishops expressed their “deep grief and concern” over the killings. “We pray to God for the victims and we express our closeness and solidarity with their families, the inhabitants of the cities…
Rare discoveries shed light on secret Catholic life in Tudor house
A restoration project at a country house in Norfolk, England has uncovered items that shed new light on the steadfast faith of a Catholic family in the wake of the English Reformation. The discoveries include a fragment of a 15th-Century illuminated manuscript found by a builder in the eaves of Oxburgh Hall, a moated manor…
‘Inspirational’ Irish priest drowns in US
The body of a Belfast priest was recovered from Detroit river five days after a freak accident capsized the boat he was travelling on. Fr Stephen Rooney, PP of St Joseph’s, Trenton, Illinois, and one other passenger went missing on Sunday, August 16. Their fishing charter overturned when it hit a submerged rock in the Detroit river’s channel,…
Online Mass ‘a poor substitute’
Watching Mass at home is a poor substitute for full participation in the liturgy, Bishop Donal McKeown has warned. He also said that the Church is held together “not by human strength but by God’s providence and plan”. In a homily at the weekend, the Bishop of Derry expressed the “hope that we will soon…



Ruadhán Jones





