One of the country’s large general hospitals recently made a small but very significant change. It renamed all of its wards. Previously the wards had saints’ names: ‘St Michael’s Ward’, ‘St Brigid’s Ward’, etc. Such names were commonplace in many hospitals around Ireland and I suppose the practice of naming wards – and indeed whole…
Parishes in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois need to prepare for a future without parish priests, Bishop Francis Duffy has warned. In a letter entitled ‘Sustaining our Faith Community’, Dr Duffy said while the diocese currently has 53 clergy serving its 41 parishes, by the time children baptised this year are confirmed the diocese…
Expressions of support for Marie Collins from members of the Vatican’s child protection commission are a “validation” for her position, the former commission member has said. Mrs Collins stepped down last month from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors after almost three months on the body of which she had been a founder…
A motion calling for the title ‘Saint’ to be reinstated in all ward names at Wexford General Hospital has been passed by Wexford County Council. Fianna Fáil Cllr John Fleming urged the HSE to reinstate the ‘proper title’ of the individuals after whom the wards had been named. The wards were renamed after the hospital…
Bishop Phonsie Cullinan and Abigale Betts from Cappoquin at the Cathedral of The Most Holy Trinity, Waterford for the diocesan launch Mass for preparations for the World Meeting of Families 2018, with an icon of the Holy Family and a bell which will visit the parishes of the diocese to promote the event. Photo: John…
The voice of faith or religion is not simply for the privacy of our homes and churches, writes Archbishop Eamon Martin We do not enter the public square simply to win arguments through the clever use of reasoning and debate. When we speak, we draw upon both reason and faith and upon an integral vision…
Greg Daly wonders why the ethics watchdog has sanctioned just one pro-abortion group That an organisation calling itself the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) should ever have denied that it was engaged in political activities seems, on the face of it, absurd, and it is hardly surprising that it was ultimately forced to face this reality.…
Greg Daly meets a Tearfund ‘early responder’ on the frontline of crises in the Philippines Originally from Manila, 37-year-old Dandin Espina had always thought he’d be a minister in his Church, the Pentecostal Church of God, but God, he says, had other plans. “I was in seminary,” he says. “I had thought I’d be a pastor, but…
Sr Marianne O’Connor Sr Marianne O’Connor describes a spiritual support service for survivors of abuse “I feel relaxed, and comfortable with the process…why? –my answer is this because the guilt, blame, confusion, was wearing me down, so with support and guidance, I want to let go, and thus try to move on with my life,…
The Minister for Justice has rejected appeals from publicans to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, saying it would send “mixed messages” in advance of new legislation to address problem drinking. At a meeting with industry lobbyists last November, Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the “Government needs to avoid…diluting its key…
Greg Daly
Courtney McGrail
Archbishop Eamon Martin
Mags Gargan