Matthew Carlson Anticipation is growing in Ireland ahead of the World Meeting of Families, with event organisers set to release details tomorrow of how pilgrims can attend WMOF2018 events led by Pope Francis on the last day of the festival. At a press conference tomorrow, WMOF2018 Secretary General Fr Timothy Bartlett, general manager Anne…
Irish politicians should focus on the appalling treatment of asylum seekers in Ireland before obsessing about US President Donald Trump, a priest who works with vulnerable immigrants has warned. Church leaders in the US have been leading the charge in criticising a new policy that separates young children from their parents who illegally cross the…
The Irish Catholic has won four awards and received an honourable mention in this year’s Catholic Press Awards, the first time this newspaper has ever competed in the industry competition. The awards were announced at the Catholic Press Association (CPA) annual conference, held this year in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with The Irish Catholic receiving a…
Colm Fitzpatrick and Greg Daly Catholic hospitals need to resist performing abortions “at all costs” and medical professionals should have the right to oppose carrying them out, an Irish bishop has said. Waterford’s and Lismore’s bishop, Alphonsus Cullinan said that many Irish people working in healthcare entered the profession to do good rather than harm, and that these…
The Irish Church’s safeguarding advisory body has rowed back on previous advice that priests should not inform State authorities about incidents of child sex abuse disclosed during Confession, instead pointing out that canon and civil law differ on this issue. The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church had advised in their 2016…
Two bishops have pushed for a more lay-led Church during separate homilies over the weekend. A priest’s work is to “channel” the gifts of lay people, and is not a lone enterprise, said Bishop Noel Treanor during Fr Tony McAleese’s ordination. “Priestly work and ministry is not a solo run: the passage from the letter…
Ireland’s Catholic bishops are crowdsourcing for input on a new council that aims to respond to the “very challenging reality” of legalised abortion in Ireland. A ‘Council of Life’ will be established by March 2019 in response to the result of the abortion referendum – it was decided in a general meeting of the bishops.…
A friend and colleague suggested to me a short time ago that I should consider writing a book about nuns – since the majority of nuns are now ageing, and in the fullness of time will depart this world. Had I but world enough and time, I would indeed embark on this endeavour. But because of…
A leading charity has criticised the absence of convictions after laws criminalising sex buyers meant to “erode Ireland’s sex trade” were implemented 15 months ago. This comes after Ruhama revealed they’ve assisted over 300 people affected by prostitution and sex trafficking in their 2017 Annual Report this week. Sarah Benson, the CEO of Ruhama, has…
The View No longer can Ireland be called a Catholic country. It may sound strange, but that comes as a relief to me. For years, those of us who are Catholic have been struggling against a notion that we are somehow part of a Catholic ‘establishment’, exercising great power and sway over the general…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly
Mary Kenny
Maria Steen