Kildare & Leighlin is the latest diocese to look abroad to fill clerical appointments in order to counter the decline in priest numbers. Announcing the diocesan appointments for the coming year, Bishop Denis Nulty said he was “aware of the huge demands on priests in 2016 and each year the changes will get that bit…

Chaplains working in Catholic schools have urged stressed students sitting important State exams to turn to prayer to help them cope. Belvedere College SJ chaplain Trish Carroll told The Irish Catholic that “faith when times are difficult can be a linchpin for many students”. “Within my work as chaplain, I try to foster the spirit…

Holy See/university thaw is welcomed The restoration of friendly relations between the Holy See and the Islamic University of al Azhar has been welcomed by the Coptic Catholic Patriarch. Expressing a hope that the friendly encounter between Pope Francis and Imam Ahmed al Tayyib “will give new vigour to the processes of collaboration and integration that Christian and Muslim…

‘Opening the Door of Mercy’ is the theme of this year’s ‘Course for Parishioners’ at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome from September 5-9. The five days include a series of talks, liturgies and guided visits to significant churches and basilicas in Rome, a day of spiritual recollection and reflection, a pilgrimage to a shrine…

The relics of St Oliver Plunkett will visit the chapel of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre in Cavan on Tuesday, June 7, arriving at 10am, and will be available for veneration until 10pm that evening.  There will be a lunch-time Mass in the chapel at 1.15pm offered by Fr Kevin Fay, chaplain to Loreto and St…

The Diocese of Cloyne and the Diocese of Waterford are co-hosting the inaugural ‘Knockadoon Boys Faith Camp’ for boys aged between 12 and 16 from Sunday, June 5 at 5pm to Saturday, June 11 at 1pm. The camp is a one-week (six nights), stay-on-site, full-board stay at the Dominican camp in the pictureque sea-side village…