Draft educational legislation would destroy faith-based schools, religious freedom think-tank The Iona Institute has warned. It was responding to the ‘Equal Participation in Schools Bill’ proposed by Ruth Coppinger TD. The draft proposes to take away the right of denominational schools to have a religious ethos and would require religious education to take place outside…
Fr Mathew statue not returning to O’Connell Street A statue of Fr Theobald Mathew, founder of the temperance movement in Ireland, will not be returned to O’Connell Street after the completion of the Luas works in Dublin. The statue, erected in 1893, cannot be accommodated in the new transport layout and discussions are ongoing between…
Campaigner Marie Collins has welcomed praise for her from Pope Francis as support for her work and her reasons about stepping down from the Vatican child protection commission earlier this year. “It was nice to hear the Pope’s comments about myself, and it is I suppose a validation of the work I’ve done and the…
The Church in Ireland now looks to the next generation of priests for renewal, according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Speaking at the priestly ordination of Edward Cosgrove SJ in the chapel of Milltown Park on Sunday, the Archbishop of Dublin told the Jesuit he had “become a priest at a new time in the history…
Staff Reporter A young rugby player has revealed the strength he receives from his faith, speaking at a Mass to celebrate sport in his parish in Co. Sligo. Connacht prop and Irish under-20 squad member, Conan O’Donnell, told St Patrick’s in Strandhill that “God is important in my life”. “My faith was nurtured by regular…
EXCLUSIVE Irish missionaries stand with people in war-torn South Sudan Irish missionaries working in war-torn South Sudan have vowed to stay with the people struggling with starvation and bloodshed, despite knowing they are in danger of being attacked at any moment. South Sudan has become the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian emergency with warnings that many people…
The picture above of children foraging for food among waste best sums up the situation in South Sudan, says Fr John Skinnader CSSp, a Spiritan priest from Co. Monaghan who has been based in the country since 2012. “The three tall buildings, just visible at the back, are the only ones standing after the fighting…
Most Dublin parishes are struggling to stay afloat and many are not sustainable in the long term, The Irish Catholic understands. It comes after the publication of the first of two sets of accounts the diocese will issue this year bringing unprecedented financial transparency. A source told The Irish Catholic that based on current figures…
Thousands are expected to descend on the Jesuit church on Dublin’s Gardiner Street this weekend, as Ireland hosts its first ever beatification ceremony. Fr John Sullivan SJ, a Catholic convert, will be named Blessed on Saturday in a ceremony led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and attended by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for…
Staff Reporter The Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin has said he was “honoured” to take part in the Darkness into Light walk at the weekend to raise awareness of suicide. Beginning at 4.15am in towns and cities across the world, over 150,000 people walked from darkness into dawn light in a movement against suicide which…
Greg Daly
Mags Gargan