This summer the Parish of Horeswood Ballykelly in Co. Wexford is hosting two significant events. The celebration of the bicentenary of St Brigid’s Church in Ballykelly will take place at 11.30am on Sunday, June 28 with a Mass of thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Denis Brennan. The bishop will also plant a tree to mark the…

Fr Sean O’Donnell, a native of the parish of Iskaheen, pictured at his ordination in St Eugene's Cathedral with the current and retired bishops of Derry: Bishop emeritus Seamus Hegarty, Fr Sean O’Donnell, Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop emeritus Edward Daly and Bishop emeritus Francis Lagan. Photo: Stephen Latimer

The annual celebration to commemorate St Oliver Plunkett in Drogheda on July 5 will commence with the procession of a first class relic of St Oliver from Holy Family Church, Ballsgrove (south of the river Boyne) at 3pm and proceed three kilometres to the National Shrine of St Oliver in St Peter’s Church, West Street,…

Staff Reporter A retired couple who collected almost €3million after winning a share in the Lotto jackpot are planning on treating themselves to a trip to the final resting place of Saint Padre Pio. The married pair from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin scooped €2,905,586 in a recent National Lottery draw. The lucky husband said he and…

Pope Francis has accepted the resignations of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piche of St. Paul and Minneapolis, just days after criminal and civil charges were filed against the archdiocese for alleged failure to protect three boys from sexual abuse by a former priest of the archdiocese. Curtis Wehmeyer, who was…

Ireland has ‘turned its back’ on Asia Bibi

A prominent abuse survivor has welcomed a new realism and sense of urgency in how the Church is dealing with abuse and child protection.  “Maybe it’s becoming more difficult for people in leadership to stay in place when their positions are untenable, and it’s good that resignations are being accepted more quickly,” Marie Collins told…

Poland's bishops have pledged to resist changes to Catholic teaching on marriage and family life at October’s synod on the family and have rejected reform demands from some German and Austrian Catholics. “We certainly won't be going in the theological direction presented by certain German-speaking circles”, said Poznan’s Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, president of the bishops'…

Bishop Donal McKeown gives a high five to some of the nearly 3,000 students who attended the Fan the Flame Mass in Celtic Park, Derry for children who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Diocese of Derry during the past year. See Page 8. Photo: Stephen Latimer

A group of lay Catholics seeking liberal reform in the Church in Ireland have called on the hierarchy to consider holding a national assembly. Members of the Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI) made the proposal at a meeting with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin recently. Whether Archbishop Martin supports such an assembly is unknown.…