He’s the popular saint known to help people find lost items and his miracles have won him affectionate veneration among Christians and non-Christians alike. This autumn, tens of thousands of St Anthony’s devotees in Ireland and Britain are expected to turn out to welcome his relics as they tour the two countries in October…
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Bishop forced to hide his colours at All Ireland hurling final
Nerves were frayed amongst the 80,000 crowd in Croke Park last Sunday as the All Ireland Hurling final between Cork and Clare resulted in a tense draw during injury time, and no more so than for Bishop Kieran O’Reilly, a Corkman based in Clare. “Coming from Cork and living in Clare I had a…
Clergy changes should be ‘more democratic’
Bishops must take a more democratic approach to priestly appointments according to a leading expert who works with priests and religious who feel bullied in the Church. Spiritan Fr Tony Byrne said that bishops and religious superiors who do not listen to priests’ concerns about appointments store up problems for the future. However, he…
Dublin school to host Spiritan university
Education is now available at first, second and third levels on the campus of St Michael’s College in Dublin. Dublin has now joined Rome as only the second European country to host the overseas programme of Duquesne University, the United States only Spiritan university. With the arrival of 12 students this month, St…
In spite of evil, God does continue to work
God writes straight with crooked lines. That axiom sounds clever, but is there real truth or depth to it? Can good ever really arise out of evil? Do love, truth, and justice ever work out through hatred, lies, and injustice? Do crooked lines really straighten?The answer to those questions will invariably be negative when we…
Protest asks Irish Times to ‘tell the truth on abortion’
A protest outside The Irish Times offices in Dublin last Saturday heard women ask the paper to “tell the truth on abortion” and stop misleading the public. The protest took place as controversy continues over the clarification by The Irish Times that its report of the “first abortion carried out under new legislation” “did…
Welcome to the world of ‘life sciences’
Choosing the sex (or, as some say, the gender) of a child may have been an aspiration that parents have sometimes wished for, throughout history: think of a family with four girls wanting a son, or vice-versa. And now clinics in San Diego, California are offering this choice to men through a process of sperm…
Homelessness ‘out of control’ – charity
Homeless services are in a worse state now than ever before, according to the Peter McVerry Trust which launched its 2012 annual report this week. After 30 years of working to eliminate homelessness, the trust said the problem is now worse than ever, perhaps even out of control. According to its 2012 annual…
‘No evidence’ celibacy leads to abuse
Claims that priestly celibacy leads to sexual abuse have been rejected by a leading expert. US-based Prof. Philip Jenkins, who has spent decades researching the area told The Irish Catholic this week that there is “no evidence whatever that Catholic or other celibate clergy are any more or less likely to be involved in…
Papal invitation drive by layman
A Catholic layman from Co. Kildare has taken it upon himself to create a Catholic drive towards inviting Pope Benedict to visit Ireland in time for the International Eucharistic Congress. Liam Prendergast has written to every parish in Ireland requesting that parish priests and other volunteers gather signatures of Catholics over the age of 16…