Staff Reporter Two clerics are part of an Irish delegation which travelled to Colombia last week to share the experience of the Northern Ireland peace process. Methodist Rev. Harold Good and Redemptorist Fr Michael Kelleher were in Colombia to speak with the Government and FARC members who have turned themselves in to reincorporation zones as…

Archbishop attacks healthcare system The Archbishop of Dublin has criticised the country’s healthcare system as being “one of the darkest shadows” hanging over a wealthy Ireland. At a conference to mark World Day of the Sick in Sutton, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attacked the bureaucratic failures of the HSE and warned that the “system itself is…

Demand for pre-marriage courses from the Catholic agency ACCORD has seen a significant increase despite a devastating cut in Government funding. Numbers attending the pre-marriage courses have steadily risen in recent years with an 8.5% increase across the country last year and a 15.6% in Dublin. Bishop Denis Nulty, President of ACCORD, welcomed the “huge…

A prayer initiative in Killaloe has seen two-thirds of parishes in the diocese praying regularly for vocations and a rise in the numbers of young men considering the path to priesthood. According to the diocese, a number of years ago, then Bishop of Killaloe Kieran O’Reilly invited the Lay Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration to become…

Catholic schools have welcomed news that new guidelines to streamline the process for vetting people who work in schools are expected shortly. “We’re absolutely delighted to hear that it’s imminent,” Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), told The Irish Catholic. “It will be very welcome by schools and voluntary…