Traditional
 Catholics
 welcomed 
for 
Knock 
pilgrimage The National Traditional Pilgrimage, set up under the auspices of the Archbishop of Tuam in 2002, will kick off on September 1 this year. In establishing this, Archbishop Neary expressed the wish that all traditional Catholics in good standing with an attachment to the older liturgical norms, now termed ‘The Extraordinary Form’ would be…

WMOF 2018   Pilgrims without tickets to official events with Pope Francis will have a chance to see the Pontiff on a drive through Dublin, officials have announced. The Pope will be driven through Dublin city centre in his ‘Popemobile’ on Saturday afternoon giving the public the first opportunity to see him during his historic…

WMOF 2018   Pope Francis has said he is “excited” to return to Ireland, and indicated it may be an opportunity for Catholics and Protestants across the island to reach out to one another. Speaking specifically to the “Irish family” in a August 21 video message ahead of the World Meeting of Families, Francis said:…

WMOF 2018   Bishop Donal McKeown has expressed his hope that Pope Francis will help Ireland wrestle with difficult questions facing both Church and State. Speaking to a packed St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry for the diocesan opening ceremony for WMOF, he said it is always better to be unhappy with the right questions than…

WMOF 2018   Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over Ireland have gathered in cathedrals across the country for simaltenous opening ceremonies for the World Meeting of Families. In Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin presided at evening prayer in the RDS – the main site of WMOF which is expected to attract some 37,000 pilgrims…

Ahead of his historic trip to Ireland, Pope Francis has begged forgiveness of victims of abuse and acknowledged a widespread culture of cover-up in the Church. Writing in an unprecedented ‘letter to the People of God’ released by the Vatican this morning, Pope Francis says that the Church “showed no care for the little ones;…

Reports that more than one in five families referred to Gardaí when overnight accommodation is unavailable are Travellers are unsurprising, a priest who works as chaplain to the Traveller community has said. “It does not surprise me,” Mallow’s Fr Tom Naughton told The Irish Catholic, continuing, “it has always been an outstanding issue in my…

Some Northern Irish Catholics are “upset” and “disappointed” that two pro-choice Government ministers from the Republic were given a platform to push for liberalised abortion laws at a prominent Catholic teaching college. According to Tracy Harkin of the Iona Institute it was inappropriate to allow two politicians who have been “actively vocal against Church teaching”…

The papal Mass on August 26, which 500,000 people are expected to attend, will be the biggest event in Europe this year according to organisers. With such a huge influx of people, WMOF2018 has released a new animated video called ‘Leave no trace’ which aims to encourage pilgrims to reduce their environmental footprint during the…