Five different schools from the Laois/Carlow/Kildare area were represented at the Eucharistic Ministers Commissioning Mass celebrated by Fr John Dunphy in the parish of Graiguecullen/Killeshin, Co. Laois recently. The group of 20 young adults were commissioned after a five-week training course. During their training they explored the origins of the Mass and the true meaning…
Category: News
Pope’s envoy calls for ‘third world war’ to fight poverty
The Eucharist demands our commitment to a just world and calls for a global war on poverty, the Pope’s personal envoy to the International Eucharistic Congress has said. Preaching at the opening Mass of the congress in the Philippine city of Cebu, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said “in an unequal and uncaring world, the Eucharist…
Christmas crossword competition winners
Congratulations to Kathleen Magennis from Dublin, who won our Christmas crossword competition. The first prize is a fully inclusive pilgrimage for two to Lourdes in 2016 with Pilgrimages Abroad. The three runners-up who will receive a copy of The Francis Effect DVD are: Mrs P. Gray, Dublin 9; Kathleen Murray, Co. Cork; Margaret McNulty, Limerick.…
Regretted death of Sr Angela Hurley FMM
Sr Angela Hurley FMM died peacefully in St Joseph’s Convent, Rush, Co. Dublin at the age of 90. Originally from Cork, she pronounced her first vows at Loughglynn, Co. Roscommon and in 1949 sailed to her new mission in South India. Her leadership skills came to fruition initially as superior of the University College, Stella…
Holy Thursday foot-washing to reflect Christ’s love for all
The Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual will no longer be limited to men, the Vatican has ruled, but can include “all members of the people of God”. The announcement from Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, follows a December 2014 letter from Pope Francis to the congregation. In his…
Bishop Leahy joins call for common Easter date
Bishop Brendan Leahy has said it would be “great” for Christian unity if Churches could agree on a common date for Easter. The Bishop of Limerick told The Irish Catholic it would be a “truly great thing to have a common date for Easter”. Noting that Pope Francis had suggested recently that he would like…
Bishops urged to embrace ‘new wind’ of Pope
A well-known priest has accused the Irish hierarchy of lacking the “dynamism” that is needed to renew the Church here. Fr Paddy Byrne told The Irish Catholic that the bishops “have to account for their own dynamism and if they are going to question it at a parish level they must question it among themselves”.…
1916 celebration a ‘mockery’ as homeless rate hits record high
Level of homelessness in Ireland is “out of control” Ireland’s “out of control” homelessness crisis makes commemorations around the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising seem hollow, according to leading campaigner Fr Peter McVerry SJ. Speaking as it was revealed that there are now more than 5,000 homeless people in Ireland, Fr McVerry told The…
Govt accuses UN of failing minorities
The Government has accused the United Nations of failing to implement its own rules to protect vulnerable minorities, including Christians, in the Middle East. Dara Murphy, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told the Seanad that “the Government believes the UN and the Security Council, in particular, have not…
Mayo parish prays together and weighs together
A Co. Mayo parish priest is on a mission to improve his parishioners’ health with an Operation Transformation fitness programme under the slogan ‘pray together, weigh together’. Based on the health and fitness programme airing on RTÉ One, 52 parishioners in Tourmakeady are going for regular walks and fitness classes with their PP Fr John…