The Bishop of Meath has dismissed the issue of female priests as an “insult to women” that suggests there is “a lacking in women” because they are not priests. Bishop Michael Smith said he “wouldn’t put any bets on” women ever being ordained priests. “I’d say that will never happen, I don’t think so,” he…
Some 300 young people attending a conference on evangelisation at the weekend have been challenged by the Irish primate to share their gift of faith. Archbishop Eamon Martin said he longed for a New Pentecost in Ireland, “to transform and renew the Faith in this country” and asked the young people to “be open to…
“The Pope is Catholic.” It might seem a strange way for one of the Church’s most eminent cardinals to begin a lecture, but these are strange times: just one day after Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn spoke in Limerick about how to read Pope Francis’s exhortation on love and the family, Catholic websites, news outlets and…
If Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College last week managed an impressive prelude to next year’s World Meeting of Families in Dublin through hosting two lectures and an academic seminar with the prelate the Pope has tapped as the key interpreter of his document on marriage and the family, Cork didn’t let the side down. Saturday saw…
When there is tragedy anywhere in the world, it is usually children who suffer the most. Although the Catholic Church and Trócaire are helping to keep children in Kenya from disease, starvation and abuse, it is a problem that has deteriorated due to severe drought. The Diocese of Lodwar was established in Turkana County, Northern…
The Pope is renewing his prayers for the embattled people of Venezuela, after a reported seven million people voted in an unofficial referendum against government changes to their constitution. The referendum was organised to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, in order to further weaken his legitimacy as a leader. “I express a special greeting…
New steps have been taken to repeal Washington DC’s assisted suicide law, as the House of Appropriations Committee voted to repeal the legislation last week. The day before the vote, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan sent a letter to members of the committee urging them to “nullify the DC City Council’s deceptively named ‘Death with…
Religious leaders play a major role in preventing atrocity crimes by promoting peace around the world – but don’t have the resources to combat it themselves. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the UN, said that “religious leaders have much to contribute”, but ultimately it was the responsibility of…
Christian pilgrims can once again visit one of the Faith’s holiest sites. The restored tomb in which Jesus’ body is believed to have been buried following his crucifixion has been reopened following extensive restoration and conservation work. Housed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City, it was closed for the nine-month…
Dear Editor, I was born in Ireland and educated in Ireland as a Catholic. I worked all my life as a consultant in South Africa. When I retired some years ago I reflected on the Ireland we have today. Catholicism and Christianity is very much on the wane. Indeed, in 10 years we will have…
Mags Gargan
Greg Daly
Chai Brady