Not even the GAA can outdo the Catholic Church when it comes to membership in Ireland, according to the Bishop of Limerick. Commenting on the Census figures during an Easter ceremony in St John’s Cathedral in Limerick, Bishop Brendan Leahy said: “Despite everything, we have discovered that 78% of our population still declare themselves Catholic.…
Maynooth deanery offer Confession in empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre An initiative of the Maynooth deanery saw an empty unit in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre become a buzz of sacred activity on Holy Saturday, with local priests answering Pope Francis’ call for outreach. From noon until 5.30pm the bare retail unit was transformed…
Staff reporter About half of the current seven vacancies in the Irish hierarchy will likely be filled by candidates proposed by the outgoing Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, according to Vatican sources. Currently there are seven of Ireland’s 26 dioceses awaiting the appointment of a new bishop. Sources in Rome this week indicated to The…
Staff reporter There is no possibility of women being ordained “at the present time” Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown has signalled an openness to women priests, though insisted that there is no possibility of women being ordained “at the present time”. Dr McKeown – who was appointed Bishop of Derry by Pope Francis in 2014…
Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick led the tributes to Prof. Michael Hayes, former president of Mary Immaculate College (MIC), who died on Holy Saturday after a short illness. Bishop Leahy, chairman of MIC’s governing authority, said Prof. Hayes had approached his role there with untiring zeal. “With a deep conviction that Catholic education has to…
Davog McCafferty Over 50 young people from Cappagh parish, Co. Tyrone led their parishioners into Holy WeeK Last Sunday April 9, over 50 young people from the parish of Cappagh in Co. Tyrone led their parishioners and the wider community into Holy Week with an evening of music and reflection on the ‘Way of the…
75 students commissioned as Eucharistic Ministers A group of 75 students at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick were recently commissioned as Eucharistic Ministers by Bishop Brendan Leahy, the largest number to date. Speaking at the event Bishop Leahy said he was commissioned as a Eucharistic Minister when he was in college “and I still remember…
A group of former republican prisoners has asked the bishops to clarify the rules around placing Irish tricolours on coffins inside churches during funerals in the North. Flags and paramilitary trappings have been banned since the former Bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly took the decision in 1987 when shots were fired over the coffin…
Irish bishops have emphasised the need for the Government to use every effort to protect religious minorities from persecution, following the latest bombings targeting Christians in Egypt. Bishop John McAreavey, Chair of the Bishops Council for Justice and Peace, said the bombings at two Coptic Christian churches in Cairo on Palm Sunday were “clearly a…
‘Friends of Cuan Mhuire’, a new nationwide network to support people in recovery from addiction, opened a centre in Tralee, Co. Kerry last week. Bishop Ray Browne, who made the initiative one of the special projects for the ‘Year of Mercy’ in the Diocese of Kerry, said he hopes that the new centre at 11…
Mags Gargan
Courtney McGrail