Cold water has been poured on the idea that Catholics might have to endure another English translation of the Mass, just six years after the last change, following an amendment to Canon Law by Pope Francis. The new law, Magnum principium, was issued on Saturday and is seen as an example of the Pope following…
The Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) has criticised Leo Varadkar’s comments in which he said the unborn should not have the same rights as the mother. However the PLC welcomed that he does not agree the unborn should have no rights whatsoever. In an article published in the New York Times the Taoiseach is quoted as saying: “And there…
Bishop Kevin Doran has condemned the “inhumane” living conditions of asylum seekers in the direct provision system, comparing them to prisoners out on day release. Bishop Doran, who is a member of the Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said the processing of asylum applications “remains unacceptably slow”, and the…
A Canadian gold mining firm has turned down a request by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) to access land in Co. Tyrone where locals say a Mass rock is located. The AOH says up to 12 bands and several hundred people are expected to attend a parade in Greencastle on Sunday to mark the…
The Passionist order of priests welcomed their third student on Sunday, when Conor Quinn took his first vows in Holy Cross Church, Ardoyne in Belfast. Conor, aged 27, is from South Armagh, the eldest son of Sean and Marianna Quinn, and a graduate in IT studies. After university he worked in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary for…
The Archbishop of Dublin has hit out at the overly negative portrayal of Church bodies in caring for the sick in the past. In his homily for a Mass to conclude the Dublin diocesan pilgrimage of over 2,000 people to the Marian shrine at Lourdes, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin acknowledged that “Church organisations made mistakes and…
There is a vicious cycle between drugs and homelessness said the CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI), as even those who successfully complete detox are then tempted by drug users in emergency accommodation. Tony Geoghegan spoke at the launch of MQI’s Annual Review for 2016 this week, in which they revealed almost 10,000 people dealing…
The Augustinians have moved out of St Patrick’s Church in Rome, breaking the Irish connection with the historic church. In a Chapter meeting in June the Augustinians made the decision to leave their Rome ministry, a choice believed to be driven by a shortage of priests. It is now run by the American Paulist Order…
The Catholic community in Co. Donegal has rallied behind its Protestant neighbours after it was discovered that the HSE plans to axe a CofI hospital chapel. Fr John Joe Duffy of the Church of Mary the Immaculate in Stranorlar, and chair of ‘Save our St Joseph’s’, told The Irish Catholic that his parishioners were “horrified and embarrassed”…
Reports of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje could be recognised by the Vatican as early as this year according to an archbishop appointed by the Pope. Archbishop Henryk Hoser was given the task to study the pastoral care given to the town’s residents and pilgrims who arrive in their millions each year to…
Mags Gargan
Chai Brady