Despite a Supreme Court ruling that the ban on asylum seekers working is unconstitutional, Bishop Kevin Doran has warned that the Government’s minimalist approach to the ruling will mean very few people in direct provision will benefit. Bishop Kevin Doran welcomed the court’s decision, but said it was “disappointing” that the Government’s interim arrangement puts…
Many Catholics feel they have to keep their heads down because their faith attracts criticism from the dominant culture, the Papal Nuncio has warned. Archbishop Jude Okolo told a gathering in Galway in the weekend that it was also disappointing that the media tends to focus on negativity – particularly when it comes to reporting…
Ireland’s rising rents are “like a fever”, Focus Ireland has said, calling for the Government to implement rules effectively. Commenting on a DAFT report revealing average national rents to be €1,227 per month, with rents on the rise nationwide, Focus Ireland Advocacy Director Mike Allen said Ireland’s housing system is “truly dysfunctional”. “These massive rent…
Few people have considered how communities and nations actually tolerate and encourage human trafficking, particularly as it relates to prostitution, Pope Francis has said. Modern forms of slavery “are far more widespread than previously imagined, even within the most prosperous of our societies”, the Pontiff said during a meeting with an international group of law…
Fr Dermot Meehan has been elected Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Achonry, following last Sunday’s installation of Bishop Brendan Kelly as the new Bishop of Galway, Kilfenora and Kilmacduagh. Fr Meehan, who will continue in his ministry as parish Priest of Swinford, Co. Mayo, will now be responsible for the day-to-day running of the diocese and will represent it at plenary meetings of the Irish Episcopal Conference in Maynooth. The Diocese of Achonry, which includes parts of counties Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo, has a Catholic population of 34,826 and 30 active priests, consists of 23 parishes and 48 churches
Doctors’ attitudes to the debate around the Eighth Amendment are unclear, with socially conservative doctors being unlikely to be outspoken on the issue, a leading member of the Irish Medical Council has said. “It is very difficult to know where GPs stand on the ‘Repeal the Eighth’ debate,” Drogheda-based GP Dr Ruairi Hanley told The…
A Co. Down folk group has topped the USA Christian album charts with the equivalent of 9,000 album sales. Rend Collective, a Bangor-based Christian band who met through a Bible group formed by the band’s drummer, are planning a US tour after topping Billboard’s Christian album charts for their third time with Good News. Seven…
The US bishops have praised signs of progress against ‘abortion ideology’, in response to a State Department report on new limits to US funding for groups involved in abortion. “Abortion undermines basic human rights, certainly for the child, and it also can wound the mother emotionally and physically,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said.…
Catholic Olympic gold-medallist Yuna Kim lit the torch at the Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The Korean skating sensation has long expressed a desire to use her public role to share the light of Christ by witnessing to her Catholic faith in international competitions and performances. Kim was honoured…
A “strong society” is based on strong marriages according to the President of Accord, the Catholic Marriage Care Service. Speaking at the blessing of an engaged couple, Bishop Denis Nulty said the World Meeting of Families, to be hosted this August in Dublin, is a time when families all over the world will come to…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly