Bishop Brendan Leahy has said it would be “great” for Christian unity if Churches could agree on a common date for Easter. The Bishop of Limerick told The Irish Catholic it would be a “truly great thing to have a common date for Easter”. Noting that Pope Francis had suggested recently that he would like…
Congratulations to Kathleen Magennis from Dublin, who won our Christmas crossword competition. The first prize is a fully inclusive pilgrimage for two to Lourdes in 2016 with Pilgrimages Abroad. The three runners-up who will receive a copy of The Francis Effect DVD are: Mrs P. Gray, Dublin 9; Kathleen Murray, Co. Cork; Margaret McNulty, Limerick.…
Level of homelessness in Ireland is “out of control” Ireland’s “out of control” homelessness crisis makes commemorations around the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising seem hollow, according to leading campaigner Fr Peter McVerry SJ. Speaking as it was revealed that there are now more than 5,000 homeless people in Ireland, Fr McVerry told The…
Politicians have forgotten about ‘vulnerable fellow citizens’ in the prelude to the Rising Centenary, writes Editor Michael Kelly The Fine Gael-Labour coalition has been at pains to point out that the commemorations of the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising should be as inclusive as possible. The State has given grants to unionist communities in…
A Co. Mayo parish priest is on a mission to improve his parishioners’ health with an Operation Transformation fitness programme under the slogan ‘pray together, weigh together’. Based on the health and fitness programme airing on RTÉ One, 52 parishioners in Tourmakeady are going for regular walks and fitness classes with their PP Fr John…
Cardinal Sean O’Malley will lead the first ever chartered pilgrimage from the Archdiocese of Boston to Knock this summer, following a transatlantic pilgrimage from New York last year. The Boston pilgrims will travel to Ireland’s National Marian Shrine by an Aer Lingus operated chartered flight to Ireland West Airport Knock on July 14. The highlight…
An Easter Rising specialist has criticised as “inaccurate” the depiction of the Church in RTÉ’s drama Rebellion. Historian Dr Shane Kenna told The Irish Catholic that the programme’s depiction of the then Archbishop of Dublin William Walsh was particularly “unfair”. “Walsh was a nationalist and while he wasn’t a fan of the Rising he was…
Eighth amendment key election issue – claim The key human rights issue of our time is the right to life of the unborn, and defence of the Eighth Amendment must become a central issue in the upcoming general election, Family and Life’s legal advisor told a gathering in Kildare recently, writes Susan Gately. Tens of thousands of Irish people were “walking…
The Diocese of Palm Beach has rejected as “completely inaccurate” claims by an Irish priest that he was “frozen out” by the Catholic Church for raising safeguarding concerns about a fellow priest. The US diocese was responding to an article in the Irish Independent which reported on the case of Strabane native Fr John Gallagher…
Irish folk singer Dolores Keane has spoken of how her Catholic faith helped her in her fight against alcohol addiction. In an interview on the Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne, the singer explained that prayer had played a big part in her life growing up, but she then lost her faith until she sought…
Cathal Barry
Greg Daly
Michael Kelly
Mags Gargan