Church of the Guardian Angels, Newtownpark A new pastoral centre was opened on October 28 at the Church of the Guardian Angels in Newtownpark in Dublin by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The centre already has 150 volunteers who will help with the running of activities for everyone, ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. Alongside programmes like ballet lessons, parish priest Fr Dermot Leycock hopes to set up a new seniors’ club, where older people can drop in to the coffee dock at the pastoral centre and catch up with their friends.
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Abuse allegation process needs a speed-up
The CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) has criticised the Vatican’s slow pace in dealing with cases involving priests alleged to have abused minors.
Speaking to CatholicIreland.net in Kilkenny at the weekend, where the third annual national safeguarding conference took place, Teresa Devlin said that when an allegation is made against a priest, “it goes to Rome and sits there for two years; that’s not justice for anybody. I think Rome needs to review how they manage these cases.”
She added that during the conference, worries had been expressed over the length of time the statutory authorities take to respond once an allegation is reported.
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Be cautious of Hallowe’en’s evils, says priest
Meath-based priest Fr David Jones has said Hallowe’en has been “hijacked by a dark source who wants to be honoured” and is urging parents to be aware of the darker sides of the celebrations.
Speaking in an interview with LMFM, Fr Jones said he hopes that parents will ensure their kids don’t normalise evil through Hallowe’en.
“There is some strange dark element at work here that plays down other Christian feasts and ups this one. We don’t say Happy Christmas anymore, it’s Happy Holidays and yet all of a sudden, we celebrate all that is macabre and evil with Hallowe’en.”