Bishop Denis Nulty has urged more parishes to answer the call of Pope Francis to have a church open for ‘24 Hours for the Lord’, saying “as Church we need to be present more often”. A number of dioceses across the island of Ireland last weekend took part in the worldwide promotion of the Sacrament…
Staff reporter Renua Ireland has announced it is now officially a pro-life political party, with members expected to take a pledge to support a pro-life position. Renua chairman, Michael O’Dowd told The Irish Catholic that a pro-life stance has now become one of the party’s “core principals”. “When the party was founded many people believed…
Some of the staff and 28 students from Glenstal Abbey School who took part in a 24-hour sleep out and fast on the streets of Limerick, raising over €2,600 for the Simon Community.
The Minister for Justice has rejected appeals from publicans to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, saying it would send “mixed messages” in advance of new legislation to address problem drinking. At a meeting with industry lobbyists last November, Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the “Government needs to avoid…diluting its key…
Parishes in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois need to prepare for a future without parish priests, Bishop Francis Duffy has warned. In a letter entitled ‘Sustaining our Faith Community’, Dr Duffy said while the diocese currently has 53 clergy serving its 41 parishes, by the time children baptised this year are confirmed the diocese…
Expressions of support for Marie Collins from members of the Vatican’s child protection commission are a “validation” for her position, the former commission member has said. Mrs Collins stepped down last month from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors after almost three months on the body of which she had been a founder…
A motion calling for the title ‘Saint’ to be reinstated in all ward names at Wexford General Hospital has been passed by Wexford County Council. Fianna Fáil Cllr John Fleming urged the HSE to reinstate the ‘proper title’ of the individuals after whom the wards had been named. The wards were renamed after the hospital…
Eight Christian aid workers kidnapped in South Sudan have been freed unharmed. The eight members of the US-based Samaritan’s Purse charity were reportedly snatched by armed gunmen on March 13 in the central Mayendit area. Despite subsequent claims by the county’s military that the aid workers were being held for ransom, no such demand was…
Ireland’s most senior Churchman has expressed the hope that an end to the political impasse in the North will be the legacy of Martin McGuinness who has died aged 66. Archbishop Eamon Martin also paid tribute to Mr McGuinness as a “man of prayer”. The archbishop said that he had “no doubt” that Mr McGuinness’…
The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations has urged the international community to forge an enduring peace for Syria. As the conflict in the Middle Eastern nation reached its sixth anniversary in March, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic told a sitting of the UN in Geneva that “six years of ongoing conflict indicate the failure…
Mags Gargan
Courtney McGrail
Greg Daly