Frank Browne Many of our parishes across the country have been busy undertaking Confirmation ceremonies for all those young people who have been waiting for up to two years. Our parish ministry team in Ballyroan thought about how we could make the sacramental preparation meetings and ceremonies both meaningful and an enjoyable experience for our…
When it comes to the relationship between religion and politics in the future, it’s the job of Churches to help people find “the better part of ourselves”, Irish EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has said. Speaking recently on RTÉ’s The Meaning of Life with Joe Duffy, Ms McGuinness said that the relationship the Churches have with…
200 parish churches in the Archdiocese of Dublin will now be equipped with with “tap-and-donate” card machines. The installation of card machines in parish churches was previously mooted and subsequently trialled by the archdiocese in 2019, with a spokeswoman for the archdiocese saying that “later this year [2019] we plan to roll out the ability…
Texans have voted to prohibit the state from taking any action that would prohibit or limit religious services. SJR 27, otherwise known as Proposition 3, is an amendment to the state’s constitution that bars “the State of Texas or a political subdivision from enacting, adopting, or issuing a statute, order, proclamation, decision, or rule that…
The pandemic and ensuing restrictions continue to cast a long shadow on Dublin diocese finances, but a big sale proves lucrative, writes Jason Osborne The archdiocese of Dublin’s 2020 financial report details a continued fall in the diocese’s finances over the last year, a trend accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in…
The launch of The Scottish Catholic heralds a rebirth of Catholic journalistic integrity and ethos in Scotland, hears Jason Osborne The pandemic took a toll on all aspects of the Church and Church-related life, Catholic media being no different. In Scotland, the combined difficulties of the pandemic and ensuing restrictions saw the closure of the…
A report compiled by Korea Future, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to investigate and document human rights violations in North Korea, has exposed details relating to the detention and torture of North Korean Christians in the past decade including all documented human rights violations that occurred as recently as 2019. The report is the…
A report on the handling of abuse cases in Germany’s Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is unlikely to be published before January 2022. Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, the law firm compiling the report, announced the delay last week. The Munich law firm said that the delay was caused by “new findings obtained in the recent past”…
The bishops will undertake a pilgrimage to the International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine in Knock this Sunday in memory of those who have died in Ireland during the pandemic and their families. All 26 dioceses will be represented at the pilgrimage to the National Marian Shrine and there will be a special reflection given to those who…
For many years, I have taken part in debates about the family. In all that time, I have focused on the importance of both mothers and fathers being closely involved in the raising of their children. It is why I have always argued for the importance of marriage, because marriage has evolved in practically all…
David Quinn