Demand for pre-marriage courses from the Catholic agency ACCORD has seen a significant increase despite a devastating cut in Government funding. Numbers attending the pre-marriage courses have steadily risen in recent years with an 8.5% increase across the country last year and a 15.6% in Dublin. Bishop Denis Nulty, President of ACCORD, welcomed the “huge…
Engaged couple Carol Dignam from Kilcock, Co. Kildare and Tim Boylan from Foxrock, Dublin received a blessing for their marriage from Bishop Denis Nulty at the Shrine of St Valentine in Dublin this week. Photo: John McElroy
Trinity College Dublin will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with a series of events across February 17 and 18, including two exhibitions and a two-day theological symposium. Organised by the Lutheran Church in Ireland and the Confederal School of Religions, Peace Studies and Theology, the symposium will deal with ‘The Legacy of the Reformation’…
The famed American crooner Harry Connick Jr has revealed how his deep Catholic faith has guided his entertainment career and sustained his 27-year marriage. In an interview ahead of the airing of a new talk-show bearing his name, Connick Jr explained how his faith informs the decisions he makes in life. “The decisions I make…
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, the Archbishop of Glasgow, and Bishop Donal McKeown presented the Pope John Paul II Award to 428 young people from all over the diocese of Derry and beyond in the Millennium Forum, Derry City last week. These young people came from 21 second level schools and represented 49 parishes in the diocese…
Andy Devane in Rome The owner of Rome’s oldest pub has revealed how Irish priests and seminarians kept the place alive in the fledgling early days. The famous in the shadows of the landmark basilica of St Mary Major, is celebrating 40 years as the eternal city’s ‘go to’ Irish pub. Gino Bottigliero brought Guinness…
St Martin’s Church, Old Bawn, Tallaght in Dublin is hosting a free event called Journey Into Freedom in March to explore what faith means in everyday life and to support people in developing a better relationship with God. The series starts on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm for six Tuesdays and each night a different…
Archbishop attacks healthcare system The Archbishop of Dublin has criticised the country’s healthcare system as being “one of the darkest shadows” hanging over a wealthy Ireland. At a conference to mark World Day of the Sick in Sutton, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attacked the bureaucratic failures of the HSE and warned that the “system itself is…
The St John Paul II Theological society in St Patrick’s College in Maynooth presents ‘Education in the Catholic Tradition: Maintaining the Ethos and Identity of Catholic Schools’, a lecture by Dr Leonardo Franchi of the University of Glasgow. Dr Franchi is a lecturer in Creativity, Culture and Faith and was head of the St Andrew’s…
A leading homelessness campaigner has expressed reservations about the proposal for the State to set up a so-called ‘friendly vulture fund’ to aid people experiencing mortgage distress. Such a charitable organisation that would buy distressed loans from hard-pressed homeowners and allow them to stay in their homes would be a key step in tackling Ireland’s…
Mags Gargan
Courtney McGrail
Paul Keenan
Greg Daly