Editor’s Comment Garry O’Sullivan Prophetic voices are often lauded in the abstract but when they appear in reality they are more likely to be ignored, sidelined and generally scoffed at. The retiring Dean of St Patrick’s was one of those few prophetic voices in any of the Christian churches on this island —…
The Catholic priest ministering to the bereaved of the Union Hall tragedy in Cork has spoken of the overwhelming ”spirit of unity” that has marked the community’s response to the loss of the trawler Tit Bonhomme with five lives. Speaking to The Irish Catholic from the quayside as the search for the last two…
Justice Minister Alan Shatter has warned that the world must never be allowed to forget the horror of the Nazi Holocaust. Launching a new exhibition in Dublin on the systematic extermination of an estimated six million European Jews this week, Mr Shatter said: ‘As the years pass by and the remaining survivors of the…
The Dean of St Patrick’s Anglican Cathedral, Rev. Robert MacCarthy has criticised the Catholic Church for its ”lack of ecumenism” in his final sermon before retiring. Oh, yes, see how these Christians love one another! Lack of ecumenism is often something of a hazard. Consider the Armenian and Greek priests who came to blows over…
Campaginers protesting against the closure of the Irish Embassy to the Holy See have expressed delight after dozens of Oireachtas members turned up at a briefing aimed at informing politicians of the value of the relationship. Ireland Stand Up invited members of the public who are opposed to the move by the Government to…
Proposed legislation before the Oireachtas would seriously undermine the right of faith schools to protect their ethos if it passes without amendment. The Education (Amendment) Bill 2012, which was introduced in the Seanad in early January, removes the right for school patrons to agree before a teacher is redeployed from another school. In effect,…
Religion and culture must be in respectful dialogue so both may inform each other, the head of the Catholic Schools Partnership has said. Fr Michael Drumm was speaking this week at the annual Greenhills Ecumenical Conference. ‘There will always be a certain tension between religious faith and culture,’ he said, noting that ‘some people…
The funeral has taken place of Very Rev. Frank Bergin, a priest of the Diocese of Killaloe for the past 64 years. Born in Kinnitty, Co. Offaly in 1922, Frank Bergin was ordained in 1948 before travelling to the Diocese of Nottingham in England. Returning to Killaoe in 1950, he served variously in Cloughjordan,…
Members of the Neocatechumenal Way in Ireland are celebrating the endorsement of their apostolic outreach by Pope Benedict XVI. At a January 20 meeting with the Way in Rome, Pope Benedict approved the special celebrations that the Neocatechumenate organises for its small communities and praised the lay movement’s ”firm commitment to proclaim the Gospel…
People who use the phrase ‘Ireland is a republic’ need to be clear on what they mean by the word, writes Fr Alan Hilliard Shopping in the local shop many years ago left little room for choice. A tin of beans meant that you got whatever brand of beans was on the shelf. There…
Paul Keenan
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny