The site of the martyrdom of St Oliver Plunkett has become the inspiration for the Church’s newest male religious order. Columbian priests Fr Manuel Agudelo Marin, 52, and Fr Hector Nagles Santa, 53, became postulants of the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre OSB, during a private ceremony in Grancey-le-Château, near Dijon,…
Millions of devotees joined this year’s observance in the Philippines of the devotion to the Our Lady of Penafrancia. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, supposedly a copy of the original image in Spain, has been venerated in Naga City, in the Philippines’ Bicol region since the 1700s. A Spanish priest supposedly ordered a local…
The 1983 Code of Canon Law did not anticipate crimes being committed by bishops that could result in their laicisation, according to a canon law professor at The Catholic University of America. Fr Robert Kaslyn SJ, who has taught courses in laicisation, said the Second Vatican Council has also made it more complicated to remove…
A scheme helping asylum seekers access third level education has been criticised by charities, who say it needs to be less restrictive. The Government has announced the continuation of the Pilot Student Support Scheme which was first introduced in 2015 and provides support similar to the current Student Grant Scheme. However the Irish Refugee Council…
Collaborate with teachers, Pope tells parents Without respectfully collaborating with teachers and schools, parents will risk being on their own when it comes to educating their children and be at a greater disadvantage facing the challenges emerging from today’s culture, mass media and technology, Pope Francis has said. Speaking to hundreds of parents, the Pope told them that “teachers are…
In a record-breaking feat, hundreds of people named Cillian have travelled to a small town in Cavan where St Kilian is from. Mullagh was swarmed by 327 Cillians in honour of the saint, who is the patron of those suffering with rheumatism. The Cillians marched through Mullagh Fair led by the Corduff Pipe Band before…
A Cork priest who died early last year left estate worth over €1m in his will. Fr John Cotter, the former parish priest of St Patrick’s Church on Cork’s Lower Glanmire Road, died on February 2, 2017, leaving a total estate of €1,160,008. One of nine children, Fr Cotter was born in Rossmore, Co. Cork,…
Due to a lack of priests the Diocese of Clogher is reducing the number of Masses by 15%. Effective from the first weekend of October, the changes come on foot of a recent pastoral letter by diocesan administrator Msgr Joseph McGuinness which highlighted the fact there are just 58 priests in active ministry in the…
Hannah Brockhaus Pope Francis has called for all the presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the world to meet at the Vatican in February to discuss the issue of sexual abuse of minors. A statement from the Pope’s cardinal advisory board today said, “The Holy Father Francis, hearing the Council of Cardinals, decided…
Former Taoiseach John Bruton has hit out at Health Minister Simon Harris for showing a lack of respect to people with different views on issues like abortion. He also said there is a contradiction in modern Ireland between concern for how children died in Mother and Baby homes decades ago, and a lack of concern…
Greg Daly
Chai Brady
Michael Kelly