Seán Farrell has been appointed as Trócaire’s new Chief Executive Officer after over 20 years with the international NGO. He described himself as “deeply honoured” to be stepping into the role and “deeply passionate” about Trócaire’s mission. “It is a privilege and a responsibility to have been tasked with taking on this role. I look…
As the pilgrimage season 2025 closes in Lough Derg, the sanctuary team announced a significant rise in attendance this year. The three-day pilgrimage had an increase of 11%, while one-day retreats rose 23%. “The increased number of pilgrims this year reaffirms Lough Derg’s role as a beacon of hope and spiritual renewal,” they said. In…
10,000 children around Ireland gathered in schools, parishes, and homes to pray for peace in Gaza as a part of the global ‘A Million Children Praying the rosary’ campaign on October 7. Organised by the papal charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the campaign is inspired by a quote from St Padre Pio,…
Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has announced a major consultation process for every parish in the Diocese of Limerick, inviting parishioners to help shape the future of local faith communities. In a letter read at all Masses last weekend, October 4-5, Bishop Leahy said the Church must find “new ways, new structures, new models” under the guidance…
Bishop Martin Hayes has said that Laudato Si’, the late Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on care for the environment, “is even more relevant today than it was ten years ago,” urging Irish Catholics to treat ecological concern as an expression of faith and moral responsibility. Speaking after attending both the Raising Hope Conference and the Conference of European Bishops’ meeting…
The Irish and UK Catholic Church are stepping up their fight against climate change with an expanding array of initiatives that turn papal words into measurable action. Their commitment was on full display at the ‘Raising Hope for Climate Justice’ international conference, held in Castel Gandolfo just outside Rome from October 1–3 to mark the tenth anniversary…
Pope Leo XIV waded into a leadership controversy in the US on September 30, mere hours before the dispute became largely academic. Speaking with journalists as he was departing the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo took a question from an EWTN reporter regarding a decision by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago to…
Pia Matthews, senior lecturer in health care ethics at St Mary’s University, London, told CNA on October 1 that if assisted dying is legalised in the UK this November, “there is real risk that funding to a hospice will depend on whether the hospice engages in the practice of facilitating assisted deaths, and this will…
The Congolese ex-president Kabila has gone into hiding and is now facing the death penalty. For the African country’s Catholic bishops, the judgement is a serious mistake that even violates the constitution. The Catholic bishops in the Democratic Republic of Congo have strongly condemned the death sentence against former President Joseph Kabila. “The death penalty…
Solidarity from Germany: three elderly nuns occupying their former convent in Goldenstein have been given a new stairlift – donated by a company from northern Hesse. The installation is celebrated on Instagram. The solidarity with three elderly nuns from Austria shows no sign of abating. On Thursday, a German company installed a new stair lift…
Renata Steffens