The Government’s plans to tackle homelessness do not do enough to address the issue of family homelessness, a leading campaigner has said. Speaking at the Focus Ireland Conference, the charity’s founder Sr Stanislaus Kennedy said ‘Rebuilding Ireland’, the Government’s action plan on homelessness and housing, is “welcome and ambitious”, but insufficiently ambitious for the needs…

Irish Capuchin archivist Dr Brian Kirby and Dublin diocesan archivist Noelle Dowling point out historical documents to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at the September 24 launch of ‘Ministry, Advocacy and Compassion – The Catholic Church and 1916’, an exhibition at St Kevin’s Chapel in Dublin’s pro-cathedral.

The installation of Fr Fintan Monahan as Bishop of Killaloe could hardly have been a more inclusive affair, and that’s how Ireland’s newest bishop wanted it – a big believer in episcopal consultation, he made it clear in advance of his ordination Mass that he wanted his ceremonial installation as bishop to draw together all…

Three Catholic priests have been murdered in Mexico in the space of one week. The three died in two separate incidents after they were kidnapped by unknown persons from their homes. In the first incident, on September 19, Frs Alejo Nabor Jimenez Juarez and Jose Alfredo Juarez de la Cruz were abducted from their parish…

Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick has called for a collective societal response in tackling addiction in Ireland. As he celebrated Mass to mark 50 years of the work of the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre in Bruree, Bishop Leahy said: “We owe it to one another in Ireland, as a collective work of mercy on the…

An Irish missionary nun is to receive a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her lifetime of work in Sierra Leone and her courageous efforts in co-ordinating a response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak there. Sr Mary Sweeney, a Sister of St Joseph of Cluny and a native of Co. Donegal, has worked for over 40…

Ireland’s newest bishop has said the Vatican’s ‘baby bishops’ course was a valuable opportunity for networking and learning best practice from elsewhere in the world. Bishop-elect Fintan Monahan, who will be ordained Bishop of Killaloe this Sunday, September 25, said that the annual training course was “great – a very good experience, probably more so…

Mercy Sisters depart Rochfortbridge The Mercy Sisters have left their convent in Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath after 154 years working in the town. The last three nuns of the local congregation departed on September 18 after a special Mass of thanksgiving at Rochfortbridge church.  Far from being confined to the Westmeath town, since their first arrival in 1862, the…

A streamlined form for Irish couples getting married will be rolled out from the First Sunday of Advent, following delays caused by uncertainty over whether or not the form needed Vatican Approval. A decision was made some years ago to make the mandatory Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form more accessible, with diocesan representatives meeting in Maynooth in…

Paul Keenan and Susan Gately The decision of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) to campaign for abortion in the event of a referendum is a culmination of 15 years of activism by pro-abortion elements, a survey of recent annual meetings reveals. As far back as 2001, when the Fianna Fáil-led government proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn…