Dublin-based priest and author of Why the Irish Church Deserves to Die, Fr Joe McDonald has launched a new Church-reform initiative to address the problems it is currently facing. Speaking at the Roncalli Community launch this month, named after Pope John XXIII, Angelo Roncalli, Fr McDonald said we need to “preach Jesus and the Gospel…
Creating family-friendly church services will encourage new mothers to attend Mass, a Limerick-based priest has said. Fr Seamus Enright, Rector of the Redemptorist Fathers at Mount St Alphonsus Church, said that reassuring women that breastfeeding is acceptable at Mass will make mothers feel comfortable in going and bringing their children. “I suppose we’ve always operated…
Parishioners will be asked to dig deep next weekend to plug a shortfall in cash after August’s World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis. It will be the fifth time that a national collection has been taken up in parishes in a bid to cover costs associated with the event and visit…
The membership of the International Astronomical Union has voted to recommend that the name of a Belgian Catholic priest be added to the astronomical law explaining the expansion of the universe, or ‘Big Bang’. Using an electronic voting system, the IAU passed a resolution to recommend renaming the ‘Hubble law’ as the Hubble-Lemaître Law. The law…
A new pastoral centre was opened on October 28 at the Church of the Guardian Angels in Newtownpark in Dublin by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The centre already has 150 volunteers who will help with the running of activities for everyone, ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. Alongside programmes like ballet lessons, parish priest Fr Dermot…
The Irish Catholic readers have added their voice to a debate about whether the Angelus should stop being broadcast on Irish television. In an online poll, which racked up almost 1,500 votes, 94% of voters said the Angelus should continue to be broadcast on RTÉ, while only 6% said it should be stopped. The poll…
Asia Bibi, the Catholic woman condemned to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in 2010, has had her conviction overturned by the Supreme Court in Pakistan. She was told by the judge she was free to go immediately. The court, in a three-member bench led by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, released the verdict this morning in Islamabad,…
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò said he is convinced he was right to accuse Pope Francis and Church officials of failing to act on accusations that then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick engaged in sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. Archbishop Viganò, the former nuncio to the US, said an open letter released on October 7 by Cardinal Marc Ouellet…
The US ‘March for Life’ plans to fortify its pro-life message next year by pointing out that science proves life begins at conception with a specific focus on stem-cell research. ‘Unique From Day One: Pro-Life Is Pro-Science’ is the theme announced by Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defence Fund. The…
The Museum of the Bible has announced that five of its most prized artefacts – valuable fragments in its collection of Dead Sea Scrolls – are forgeries that will no longer be displayed at the museum in Washington DC. Researchers in Germany tested five of the museum’s 16 fragments, bought by the billionaire businessman and museum…
Colm Fitzpatrick