We will talk for years to come about the weekend Pope Francis came to Dublin. Four of us were at the fabulous Festival of Families in Croke Park and all six of us at the Mass in Phoenix Park. It was wonderful to see the Pope in Ireland and wonderful for our family to experience…
Reproduce St Joseph’s ‘ideal of service’ Pope tells Oblates Pope Francis told the Oblates of St Joseph that for decades he has relied on the intercession of St Joseph, and “never, ever has he told me ‘no’”. “We should draw courage from this,” the Pope said on August 31 as he met with members of the order’s general chapter. “For more than 40…
Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson. £15.99 / €17) Peter Hegarty Faulks’ explores the German occupation (1940-44), a closed subject in France for decades after the wars. That those years were off-limits for so long shows that “the human drive to ignorance…is a force as powerful as its opposite”, as Hannah, one of the two main…
Radical change is needed in the Irish Church if it is to stay afloat, a Limerick-based priest has said. Speaking in the wake of a two-day conference in Thurles last week, entitled ‘The Future of the Irish Parish: Lessons from Abroad’, Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon said that the Irish Church needs more pastoral lay leaders to…
As the debate about religious instruction in schools heats up a theologian and former teacher has said that providing alternate tuition will be “a source of frustration” for Catholic schools. Education Minister Richard Bruton and about 275 State-run secondary schools in the Education and Training Board sector are currently at a stand-off as the department…
Youth Space Liam Linden recounts the transformative power of visiting Fatima Utter brilliance. Eye opening. Challenging. Encouraging and enlightening. These were some of the words used by our pilgrims to describe the Armagh Diocesan Youth Commission’s (ADYC) recent summer pilgrimage to Fatima. Describing my experience with ADYC would be a similar choice of words…
Green Fingers As our climate get milder, our season of autumn starts later in the year. It’s late September or October before the colour palette starts to change to the rich reds, golden yellows and deep oranges of autumn. September is an ideal time to plant evergreen shrubs and conifers, or to move established…
Over 70% of people who took part in a social media poll conducted by The Irish Catholic believe Pope Francis gave fresh hope to the Church during his visit. Over 1,000 people responded to the question with the majority reacting positively to the 36-hour papal trip which took place from August 25-26, saying it was…
Now that the dust is starting to settle after the World Meeting of Families and the papal visit, readers of The Irish Catholic may be wondering – especially readers who missed the WMOF pastoral congress or various papal events – how they can build on 2018’s unique highlights for the Irish Church. A useful starting…
Travelling into Irish history There are over 40,000 Irish Travellers across the country, but many people still don’t know about their history and how they came to be. Offering an insight into their unique story, the National Museum of Ireland in Co. Mayo is holding an exhibition of objects, images and film exploring the rich…
Bairbre Cahill
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady
Paul Gargan
Greg Daly