A look back at our 2015 profile of the former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese Four years, almost to the day, since she retired after 14 momentous years as eighth President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, devout and questioning Catholic, stateswoman, peacemaker, Pope Francis admirer, qualified Canon lawyer, wife, mother and grandmother, is relishing the…
Nurses find it increasingly difficult to maintain a high-level of personal contact with patients given the crowded conditions in many hospitals, a chaplains’ representative has said. Fr Gerry Byrne of the National Association of Healthcare Chaplains told The Irish Catholic that many nurses and other hospital staff find themselves constantly in fire-fighting mode. He also…
A new report on child abuse has revealed that clerical abuse makes up a statistically negligible proportion of abuse in Ireland. The Garda Inspectorate’s Responding to Child Sexual Abuse states that although clerical and institutional cases are reported and investigated every year, they form “a small proportion” of the overall number of cases investigated. The…
Dr John McAreavey ought to have held off for a few months before tendering his resignation as Bishop of Dromore, an old friend and PR adviser to he bishop has said. Speaking on BBC’s Talkback, Tom Kelly said he advised the bishop against resigning, saying: “If you want to do it, do it in a…
A leading theologian has said that the Pope’s decision to institute a new feastday of Our Lady as ‘Mary, Mother of the Church’ is a way of underlining the importance of avoiding institutionalism in the Church. At the weekend, the Pope announced that the new feastday will be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost. According…
Parishes and dioceses may not be able to divest schools without arranging for alternative forms of religious instruction, The Irish Catholic understands. The vast majority of Irish primary schools are under religious patronage, and although the Department of Education has expressed a wish to see half of the country’s Church-run schools divested from Church control…
Praying in public is of vital importance to the outcome of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment, according to campaigners. “In the battle for life, we have to do the canvasing and everything else, yes, but we are not going to win without prayer because it is very much a spiritual battle,” pro-life advocate Kathy Sinnott told…
Describing the people involved in the looting of a Lidl in Tallaght as ‘scumbags’ or worse, dehumanises not only the hardened criminals, but young children too. Having lived in Brookfield for two decades – one of the most socially-disadvantaged areas in Tallaght – the overwhelming feeling in the community is apathy, and in many cases,…
Government pensions plan is a missed opportunity Campaigners have called for the introduction of a universal pension in Ireland, in response to the failure of the Government’s new pensions plan to address “major issues around equity, sustainability and bureaucracy”. A Universal State Social Welfare Pension, published by Social Justice Ireland analyses Ireland’s pension system and…
Pope Francis’ exhortation on the family should prompt discussion and even debate, but accusing him and others of heresy is completely out of place, said German Cardinal Walter Kasper. “A heresy is a tenacious disagreement with formal dogma. The doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage has not been called into question on Pope Francis’ part,”…
Martin O'Brien
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Susan Gately