Churches and other places of worship will be exempt from the 50-person indoor limit, after the one-size-fits-all nature of the rule drew sharp criticism from religious leaders. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the restriction on Friday night, and on Saturday Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin described the rule as “strange” and “disappointing”. He pointed out…
St Saviour’s Church in Dublin saw long queues for confession as preparation for public Masses continue, Fr Conor McDonough OP has told The Irish Catholic. “The attendance has been really impressive, with the (socially distanced!) queue sometimes stretching well up the street,” said Fr McDonough. “It’s not just Penney’s that’s drawing the crowds, the Lord is…
Staff and inmates at Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison have given food and raised £500 for a soup kitchen in Belfast. NI prison chaplain Fr Stephen McBrearty said St Patrick’s Church on Donegall Street, where the soup kitchen is located, was a site that some of the young male offenders and female prisoners would…
During the height of the pandemic the majority of Irish Catholics have welcomed and engaged with online Church services, feel their faith has been strengthened and believe now there is a “great chance” to re-think the Church’s future, according to new research. The study was conducted by the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education at…
The Head of Religious Programming in RTÉ has hailed a new initiative which saw Mass broadcast live on the station for the first time without an outside broadcast crew. For the first time last Tuesday and again on Sunday, iCatholic.ie delivered “high-quality”, live Mass to RTÉ, which has traditionally been done by media production company…
The Irish Bishops have withdrawn 78 schools from the first phase of the state’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) over fears they could be sued, The Irish Catholic understands. The schools, as well as other buildings such as libraries and GAA clubhouses, were to act as broadband connection points (BCPs), providing hubs of high-speed broadband for local communities. The hubs were to be an…
A new ‘camino’ style 22km pilgrim walk is being launched in Downpatrick by St Patrick Centre, the only permanent exhibition in the world dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint. New pilgrim guides, Martina Purdy, former BBC political correspondent, and former barrister, Elaine Kelly will lead pilgrims along St Patrick’s Way, visiting seven locations, from July 1.…
Ireland’s recently won seat on the United Nations Security Council can be an opportunity to “leverage” the council to support persecuted Christians, according to Aid to the Church in Need Ireland (ACN). Last week it was announced that Ireland secured enough votes, along with Norway, to win a two-year non-permanent seat. Dr Michael Kinsella, Director…
We are facing a period of new poverties as we come out of lockdown, of economics, of education and of hope, said Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry. “In a society with huge gaps between the well-off and the poor, an economic downturn first strikes the weakest and those who were hanging on by their fingertips,”…
The passing of Garda Colm Horkan has been a tragic reminder of the heroism and bravery of an Garda Síochána as they work daily to make society safer for all, said Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick. Speaking following a remembrance service outside Henry Street Garda station in Limerick, Bishop Leahy said an unmistakable sense of…
Michael Kelly
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady