18-year-olds leave care with nowhere to go Chai Brady and Hannah Harn A group that supports vulnerable teenagers has accused Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone of ignoring the plight of young people who fall into homelessness after leaving State care. Neil Forsyth of the Irish Aftercare Network told The Irish Catholic that he believes Ms Zappone is “blinkered” on…
President Michael D. Higgins has led tributes to Trócaire aid worker Sally O’Neill who died following a road accident in Guatemala. Mrs O’Neill, a native of Co. Tyrone, worked for the Church’s overseas aid agency for some 37 years in developing countries. Reacting to the news of her death along with three colleagues, Archbishop Eamon…
A call from Sinn Féin for a State takeover of Catholic schools would trample on the rights of parents, theologian Dr John Murray has warned. Speaking in the Seanad last week, the party’s education spokesman Paul Gavan said “we must work towards ending the patronage system completely”. It is the patronage system that underpins the…
The Orange Order must drop its “out-of-date”, sectarian regulations and embrace more tolerant attitudes towards Catholics, a prominent Protestant minister has urged. Dr Ken Newell, a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said there are “lingering elements” of sectarianism in the loyalist organisation, and that the Irish lodge should be more tolerant of…
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, set to become the new head of the Archdiocese of Washington, promised to serve with truth, love and tenderness in a region where he acknowledged “unrest and anger”, after the downfall of former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Church’s current sex abuse scandal. “I want to offer you hope. I will…
The state of Texas has banned all prison chaplains from its execution chamber, following a Supreme Court decision that halted the execution of a Buddhist man who was denied the presence of his chaplain. Patrick Murphy had been scheduled to die last Thursday. Mr Murphy requested access to a Buddhist minister a month before his…
Dissident republican groups bent on creating friction and curtailing free speech is a “form of fascism”, a Derry-based priest has said. Fr Joe Gormley of Creggan parish told this newspaper that attempts to stop the police from talking to young people about critical issues shows the “fascist element” of dissident republicanism. His comments after the…
Ireland’s longest-serving diocesan bishop has hailed the appointment of his successor as “a new beginning” for the Diocese of Cork and Ross. Bishop John Buckley, who has headed the Diocese of Cork and Ross since 1998, welcomed the announcement that Dublin archdiocesan chancellor Fr Fintan Gavin [pictured] will succeed him as Bishop of Cork, saying…
The majority of people would reject the introduction of female deacons to their parish according to a survey conducted by this paper. Over 1,300 people responded to a social media survey with two-thirds saying they would not support their diocese if this was considered. Overall 979 people voted against the idea, while 361 approved. This…
Brunei has implemented a sharia penal code that punishes such crimes as adultery, sodomy, rape and blasphemy of Muhammad with the death penalty. “Brunei Darussalam has always been practising a dual legal system, one that is based on the Syariah Law and the other on Common Law,” Brunei’s prime minister’s office said at the end of…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly