Church choirs throughout the Archdiocese of Dublin are joining forces for one rousing performance to close the Year of Faith.   Singers from all corners of the Dublin archdiocese are being encouraged to join an assembled choir to perform G.F. Handel’s masterpiece Messiah at a special ceremony in All Hallows College Chapel in November.  …

Kerry diocese received €1,300 last year to fund weekly group meetings for gay teens and those questioning their sexuality.   The Community Foundation of Ireland’s annual report 2012 reveals it provided Kerry Diocesan Youth Service (KDYS) with the funding last year “to support a new LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] group of 12 people to…

A new cross-church campaign to tackle sectarianism has been established in the North following a summer of parade related violence.   The initiative entitled ‘Hope and History – Building Peace in Northern Ireland’ is inviting members of the churches to sign up to a statement that gives positive encouragement to those who are committed to…

There has been widespread condemnation after a Catholic church was damaged in a petrol bomb attack in Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim.   Paint was also thrown at St Mary’s Star of the Sea church on the Shore Road.   Presbyterian Moderator Dr Rob Craig has condemned the “blatantly sectarian” attack as “despicable”.   “The cross-community condemnation…

The 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising will be a hollow celebration if the Government continues savage cuts to the most vulnerable, the Society of St Vincent de Paul has warned.   Amid talk of further deep budget cuts, the SVP, the country’s largest charity, says the coalition is failing to give people hope…

African hymns echoed through the Church of the Resurrection in Killarney, Co. Kerry last Saturday during a special ceremony which saw three men make their first vows as Presentation Brothers.   Sebastian Dery (26), Leonard Derbie (33) and McSimon Azenda (34) made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience before Brother Martin Kenneally, the Congregation Leader…

Following the announcement of the latest summer appointments, a priest in the Diocese of Meath has taken the title of youngest priest in Ireland from a Dublin colleague.   Bishop Michael Smith appointed seven parish priests in his clerical changes, which come into effect on September 29, among which Fr Patrick Donnelly (33), currently curate…

So far, in contemplating what appears to be imminent death of the mainstream print media, we have tended to adopt an apocalyptic demeanour. And, yes, there are many potentially ominous aspects of what is happening and likely to happen next. The death of the newspaper may well, under certain headings, have drastic consequences for the…

While the election of Pope Francis has reportedly brought people flocking back to the Church in Britain and the United States, the Pope appears to have had no such effect in Ireland.   A recent survey of clergy based in cathedrals across England and Wales found that two thirds had noticed an upturn in numbers…