There was a congregation of over 2000 at a special Mass at Knock Shrine held last Sunday to mark Organ Donor Awareness Week 2017 (1-8 April). The inaugural service was a celebration for organ donors and transplant recipients and was led by Fr Richard Gibbons, in the newly refurbished Basilica. The chief organiser of this…
Category: News
Passion play with female Jesus causes concern
A local parish priest has expressed concern at a non-religious Passion play with a female Jesus, due to be played out across the streets and civic spaces of Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard in Dublin. On Holy Saturday Brokentalkers theatre company is presenting a re-imagining of the Passion of Christ through a confrontation between a homeless…
Irish and British bishops liaise to reduce Brexit risks
Irish bishops have been working with their British counterparts to protect the rights of Irish people in Britain, following the country’s decision to leave the European Union. Liam Allmark, public affairs manager for the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, told The Irish Catholic that Bishop Nicholas Hudson, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of…
Tough guy Mr T sustained by his faith
Following the launch of the American version of Dancing with the Stars, TV tough guy Mr T has said the plans to knock out his dancing competition the same way he beat cancer – with God on his side. Best known for starring in The A Team and Rocky III, Mr T has revealed that…
Vocations decline will mean more Africa priests – nuncio
Irish parishes will need to adjust to the reality that the declining number of vocations to the priesthood here will mean more African priests taking up the mantle, Ireland’s former papal nuncio has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic as he prepared to leave for his new posting in Albania, Archbishop Charles Brown said that the decline…
Ireland set to have new Blessed
Ireland will see its first Blessed in 17 years with the date set for the beatification of Fr John Sullivan SJ in May. The beatification of Fr Sullivan will take place in St Francis Xavier’s, Gardiner Street, Dublin, on Saturday, May 13. Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregations for the Causes of Saints will…
Bishop warns hospital site puts children’s lives at risk
Seriously ill children from rural Ireland could die en route to the proposed new national children’s hospital in the heavily-congested city centre of Dublin, a bishop has warned. Bishop Phonsie Cullinan, the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, is backing a grassroots campaign to urge the Government to move away from the current proposed site at…
108 bells for Ireland’s oldest woman
The bells of St Brigid’s Church in Ballintrillick, Co. Sligo, rang 108 times to mark the funeral of Ireland’s oldest person last week, with each chime marking a year of her life. Elizabeth Gallagher, who was buried on March 28, became the oldest person in Ireland last December, and was “very proud” of the fact,…
Cork missionaries offer home to refugees
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have offered to house a family of refugees at their retreat centre in Cork. Fr Michael Curran MSC, leader of the Myross Wood community, is currently working alongside the Irish Red Cross to put the suggested relief plan into action. Myross Wood House has already been inspected by an…
Knock and Lough Derg heads welcome Vatican oversight swap
Pope Francis’ decision to switch Vatican oversight for shrines and sanctuaries to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation has been welcomed by the priests who run Ireland’s principal shrines. Until this weekend, shrines and sanctuaries came under the jurisdiction of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, but on Saturday, April 1, the Pope transferred them…

Greg Daly
Mags Gargan







