Killaloe’s Bishop Fintan Monahan has welcomed an ambitious new plan to revive rural Ireland and said the Church will do its best to be proactive in maintaining rural life. The bishop’s comments come following the announcement of ‘Realising our Rural Potential: Action Plan for Rural Development’, a €60 million plan intended to revive Ireland’s rural…
Senators calling for a prayer room in a newly-refurbished Seanad could take inspiration from the success of the dedicated chapel for Catholics in Britain’s Houses of Parliament, the duty priest there has said. Appointed in 2009 following a request from Catholic MPs to the Diocese of Westminster, Fr Pat Browne – a native of Rathoath…
Just 1.2% of applicants for admission turned down by schools in Dublin were on the basis of no baptismal certificate, a new survey by the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has shown. Prompted to undertake the study amid an ongoing debate around the so-called ‘baptism barrier’ and Minister for Education Richard Bruton’s proposed consultation…
Oscar-winning singer Jennifer Hudson has spoken of the strength she found in faith after the trauma of losing her family to murder. The star, currently a panellist on television’s The Voice, became famous after an appearance on the reality show American Idol led her to a starring role in the film Dreamgirls, for which she…
Irish people frustrated by the escalating homelessness crisis have been urged to give vent to their feelings by offering their time volunteering for charities working in the frontline. The call comes after Irish bishops discussed the ongoing issue of homelessness during their meeting with Pope Francis in Rome at the weekend and told him about…
“Pope Francis once said that Catholics had to understand the current situation as not so much an era of change, but a change of era”, writes Michael Kelly Irish bishops have been in Rome meeting with Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials as part of the ad limina process. In theory every bishop in the…
Pope Francis speaking with Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All-Ireland, at the Irish bishops’ ad limina visit to Rome this week. Photo: Servizio Fotografi co/L’Osservatore Romano
Michael Kelly in Rome and Paul Keenan in Dublin Pope Francis has encouraged the Church in Ireland to maintain and enhance the strong values of Catholic schools, despite a background of negativity from some vested interests. Speaking to the bishops in a closed-door meeting at the Vatican on Friday, the Pontiff said that to be…
Pope Francis has called for people to “wait and see” what newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump does in his leadership role and not rush to judgement. Amid a weekend of protests worldwide and angry denunciations on both sides of the political divide in America, Pope Francis’ was a voice of calm as he warned against…
The Catholic bishops of Venezuela have called on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to set a date for elections as the nation continues to sink into economic disaster. Following a plenary meeting of the hierarchy, the bishops issued a pastoral exhortation, ‘Jesus Christ, the Light and the Way for Venezuela’, in which they state…
Greg Daly
Paul Keenan
Michael Kelly