Under new plans being considered, men training to be priests would spend most of their time working in parishes rather than in the traditional seminary environment. It would see seminarians living in parishes with more time involved in active pastoral work alongside priests and lay pastoral workers and would, according to one bishop, give them…
The bishop of Elphin has criticised those who identify as “Faith-filled” while spreading fear and mistrust of migrants and refugees, particularly those who are Muslims. Bishop Kevin Doran told this paper he has witnessed prejudice in Irish society and that there’s an “implication” that because people are Muslim they are more likely to be terrorists.…
Church agencies have rallied together to help more than half-a-million people in dire need after a cyclone hit Southern Africa last week. It’s estimated that at least 1,000 people have died in Cyclone Idai which hit Mozambique on March 15, making landfall near the port city of Beira on Thursday with winds of up to…
A call from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for the EU to rediscover its Catholic roots is an invitation for politicians to bring Catholic values to bear in their work, Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor has said. Addressing the spring assembly of COMECE – the European bishops’ conference – Mr Juncker spoke effusively…
Hundreds of Irish GPs have submitted a third petition to their representative body calling for a vote on abortion and freedom of conscience. Approximately 600 GPs hand-signed the petition calling for the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Dr Orla Halpenny from Doctors for Life said that “members…
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have expressed horror and distress at a terrorist attack in two mosques in Christchurch that saw at least 50 people killed. The shootings took place at or near the Al Noor Mosque, where 41 people were killed, and at the Linwood Mosque, where seven were killed. One more person subsequently died…
While many Twitter users saw last week’s meeting of American Vice President Mike Pence with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner as an in-your-face moment for the pro-marriage Christian politician, a Dublin-based priest has said the scene really shows gracious dialogue. Fr Bill Dailey, priest in Dublin’s Newman University Church, criticised Twitter users who were…
The Primate of All-Ireland has asked for prayers and Christian outreach following the tragic deaths of three teenagers in a crowd crush outside the Greenvale Hotel, Co. Tyrone on St Patrick’s night. The three young people have been named as Lauren Bullock (17), a student of St Patrick’s College in Dungannon, and Connor Currie (16)…
Faith isn’t a matter of praying for victory, Wales’s defence coach told a gathering of Catholics ahead of the Welsh rugby team’s 25-7 trouncing of Ireland last weekend. Speaking on ‘Faith in a Competitive World’ to over 120 people near Cardiff’s St David’s Cathedral, lifelong Catholic Shaun Edwards said that as a boy he had…
Catholic justice and peace commissions have called for greater attention to social justice across the EU, urging political leaders to take steps to curb food waste, arms exports and multinational abuses. The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions said a “new and comprehensive European regional development policy” was needed to better serve the common…
Greg Daly
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick