“Alpha fills you with a sense of belonging and changes you through the power of the Holy Spirit”, writes John Quinn I began working with the Presentation Brothers in September 2015, taking up my appointment as their Evangelisation Officer. After four years of working as a youth minister in a busy South-London parish, I was…
There’s no doubt that the report on the Archdiocese of Dublin showing a dramatic decline in the number of priests and the number of Catholics attending Mass regularly makes for sobering reading. Over the past number of years, The Irish Catholic has published several similar statistical analyses and projections – the findings have all been…
In the winter of 2009 I made a retreat in Craig Lodge, a house of prayer in the Highlands of Scotland. As we journeyed up through the highlands we were listening to a CD I had brought for the journey, Harmony by The Priests. We were listening to the words of the Te Deum and…
At the end of every Roman Catholic liturgy, there is an invitation given to the people to receive a blessing. That invitation is worded this way: “Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing.” The idea behind that, obviously, is that a blessing can only truly be received in reverence, in humility, with head bowed,…
“The Church needs to find a way to help families, often with a limited sense of the Faith, explore whether or not the sacraments are important to them”, writes Editor Michael Kelly There’s no doubt that the report on the Archdiocese of Dublin showing a dramatic decline in the number of priests and the number…
“it’s a sense of grittiness that you need to get through life, not just confidence in yourself”, writes Mary Kenny Psychologists these days are constantly called on to help inspire self-esteem and a sense of self-worth in growing children – David Coleman, the clinical psychologist, is in regular demand to advise parents, teachers and guardians…
Stark new figures provide opportunity to plan for the future, Fr Gareth Byrne tells Cathal Barry The number of priests in the Dublin archdiocese is set to plummet by as much as 70% by 2030, new research has found. Other key findings include a predicted 33% decline in Mass attendance by 2030 and a higher…
“It is in the interpretation of individual situations that there is scope for more generosity and more compassion”, writes Nuala O’Loan One of the things which has impressed itself upon me recently is the extent to which the Church in which I grew up has changed so much. That Church was manifestly different from the…
Ireland has to answer to international organisations overwhelmingly secularist and ‘liberal’ in their outlook, writes David Quinn The bishops will have to starting preparing themselves for a possible referendum on schools within the lifetime of the next government. The distinct possibility of such a referendum was flagged at an appearance by Ireland before the UN…
Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ Urban areas are being industrialised at the expense of many parishes and communities, writes Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ The growing concern of the relative deprivation of many communities in the West of Ireland is timely and I welcome the highlighting of the current crisis in last week’s edition of…
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Cathal Barry
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn