A leading theologian has said former Catholic institutions should not keep their names after the Church gives up governance, especially if they ‘violate Catholic teaching’. Almost 1,000 people attended a march to preserve the name of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth, on Monday after it was discovered there was a proposal…
Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has moved to quash rumours that he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in 2015, five years before he would have been expected to do so. The Irish Times reported last week: “It is said that Archbishop Martin’s letter of resignation was submitted to Rome in 2015 when he reached the…
With planning beginning this month to build a path along the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage to counteract extensive erosion along the trail, a local priest has said it will “enhance” the experience. The Croagh Patrick Stake-holders Group, established in 2015, have already built a 20-metre path in a trial run and have begun an evaluation process…
Well-known pop singer and actress Kaya Jones has revealed why she is so openly pro-life and said that we need to “expose the truth” about how damaging abortion can be. Writing on Twitter, the former Pussycat Doll said that she is one of many women who feel “ashamed” to speak publicly on this issue but…
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission (CENI) has accused the country’s Catholic Church of “preparing an insurrection” after it said it knew who had won the country’s presidential elections and called on the authorities to publish the true results. Fr Donatien Nshole, secretary-general of the DRC’s bishops’ conference (CENCO), said on January 3 that…
Unskilled workers are more than three times as likely as professional workers to be divorced or separated, a new survey has revealed. The report is a follow-up to a paper issued by The Iona Institute in 2016 which showed that marriage rates also differ hugely by occupational status and social class. It found that unskilled…
Consistency, accountability and concrete commitments to global implementation of safeguarding policies should be priorities for next month’s Vatican assembly of the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences, child protection campaigner Marie Collins has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Mrs Collins said: “I think they have to come out of the meeting with something concrete,…
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising has called for change in long-standing Church tradition as the German bishops’ conference prepares for a workshop debate to “review” the issue of celibacy for priests. In his homily at New Year’s Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Munich, Cardinal Marx said the Church must,…
A Nigerian priest who was kidnapped and held ransom on Christmas Eve recalled his experience at Mass last week, saying prayer is what saved him. Fr Cajetan Apeh, a recently ordained priest assigned to St Theresa’s Parish in Anam, was kidnapped along with the church’s pastor on December 24. The two priests were ambushed while…
A former head of the Philippines’ Catholic bishop’s conference has called on people to ignore President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated rants against the Church. In his New Year message, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said those who call God stupid and teach that it is useless to go to Church are “anti-Christ”. “Do not listen to…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly