Labour party leader Brendan Howlin has called on the Government to grant asylum to the Christian woman freed in Pakistan after eight years in solitary confinement accused of blasphemy. The Supreme Court in Pakistan announced on October 31 that Asia Bibi – who had been facing the death penalty – would be freed. However, she…
Pro-life TD Peadar Tóibín has defended his decision to vote against abortion despite being suspended from his Sinn Féin party over the issue and hinted he may run as an independent. Mr Tóibín was amongst a handful of Dáil deputies who voted against the Fine Gael legislation which permits abortion up to birth in certain…
Exclusive Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin has said the Church in Ireland needs to embrace the model of engagement of Pope Francis and think seriously about a national synod or meeting of the Church here. Fresh from the month-long Synod of Bishops in Rome at which the Pontiff appealed for bishops to be more responsive…
Many Catholics would be unaware of the process of a synod, let alone the details of the recently published final document of the synod on youth – but it heralds big changes in Ireland’s Church. Irish Catholics are set to become much better acquainted with synods and synodality, and not just as a distant process…
The Diocese of Clogher plans to engage priests and laity in the coming months in the development of lay-led prayer. Clogher’s Annual General Priests’ Conference in Monaghan, chaired by Diocesan Administrator Msgr Joseph McGuinness, dealt with a variety of organisational matters for diocesan and parish life in the year ahead including lay-led prayer and liturgies…
The Government should focus on tackling anti-Semitism online following what’s been dubbed as the deadliest rampage against the Jewish community in US history, according to the chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland. “If we look at this particular incident in Pittsburgh, unfortunately people who have these mental aberrations their feelings are given vent…
The Archbishop of Cashel and Emly has said he was alarmed by the “inflammatory language” members of the Travelling community and those on welfare were subjected to during the presidential campaign. In a statement, Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly said that feedback he received from members of the Travelling community and those dependent on financial assistance from…
Bishop Kevin Doran has accused politicians who voted for abortion of having a “brass neck” to begin Dáil proceedings with a prayer and then vote to end the life of unborn children. Reacting on Facebook to the passage of the first stage of the legislation, Dr Doran wrote “if you want an actual definition of…
The parish system in Ireland has been a vital source of comfort and support in combating loneliness, well-known actor Brendan O’Carroll has said. The Irish star, best recognised for portraying Agnes Brown in the television sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys, said that Mass historically curbed loneliness as it was a “central place” where people could go…
The 2016 game Pokémon Go has been downloaded worldwide 800 million times, but a new Catholic version of the game is hoping to persuade potential players to put down the Poké Balls and pick up the prayers. ‘Follow JC Go!’ is a Christian take on the mobile game, but instead of catching Japanese monsters, players…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick