Ossory’s Bishop Dermot Farrell has said he was “saddened” to hear of “inappropriate language and sentiments” in a homily preached in Kilkenny’s Capuchin friary over the weekend. Onetime UCC chaplain Fr Tom Forde had spoken on Saturday about “the abuse of drugs and alcohol, adultery, fornication and homosexuality, as well as in the acceptance of…
Clonliffe site may attract large bids A Dublin land sale is on the brink of finalisation as the GAA and the Archdiocese of Dublin await Vatican approval for the lucrative deal. The sale of more than 19 acres of land at Clonliffe College, Drumcondra, the site of Holy Cross Seminary, is at a critical stage…
Chai Brady and Colm Fitzpatrick Jesuit schools have welcomed a commitment to use proceeds from a multi-million euro land sale to help poor children and ensure the “survival” of the order’s mission. With a price tag of €55m on the Jesuits’ Milltown Park campus in Dublin, school ethos and bursaries were highlighted as being “critical”…
Independent Senator Rónán Mullen has criticised the circumstances around the burial of deceased asylum seeker, Sylva Takula, who died in 2018 and was buried by the State without ceremony last month, with no notice to friends and associates. Senator Mullen said there should be an investigation to establish how such insensitive treatment occurred despite repeated…
Laws against prostitution should be used to “tackle” sex buyers and ‘pimps’, a charity has said after a ruling saw two women jailed in Kildare. Dedicated to supporting people in prostitution, Catholic-founded Ruhama has criticised a decision to jail two women for nine months for running a brothel. A premises in Newbridge was raided in…
Virtual candles and online petitions will be high-tech ways of giving Limerick’s Redemptorist community a global reach. Dubbed by one man “the Munster final of religion”, the annual Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is expected to draw thousands of people from all over north Munster and beyond. In this multi-media age,…
Mark Patrick Hederman In a homily delivered in Belfast’s St Anne’s Cathedral, Mark Patrick Hederman OSB, reflects on the life of the Duchess of Abercorn Alexandra Hamilton – known as Sacha – who died on December 9, 2018. Dear Friends of Sacha, We are not here today to bury our beloved. That happened, most appropriately,…
While numbers entering seminaries and religious life across Europe have been in decline over recent decades, there is a slow rise now with young people coming into religious life “more prepared, usually from a spiritual direction point of view”, according to the Director of Vocations Ireland. Returning from a meeting in Rome for people working…
Elderly priests are seeking to focus on pastoral work in the face of growing administrative burdens, Ossory’s Bishop Dermot Farrell has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic after announcing this year’s diocesan changes, Bishop Farrell said he had tried to support elderly priests. “This year the men wanted to be relieved on the administrative side…
Couples with no faith who want a church marriage are exploiting a sacred service, a Cork-based priest has said. Fr Tomás Walsh SMA of Gurranabraher said that couples who seek a Catholic wedding without having any faith themselves are taking advantage the religious ceremony. “I think that a lot of the church marriages that go…
Greg Daly
Chai Brady
Susan Gately