Downsizing seems to be the order of the day in Maynooth recently, and it’s not just for the bishops as the Nuncio tries to amalgamate dioceses that become vacant. New House in St Joseph’s Square in front of the main St Patrick’s College building has been sold to Maynooth University and it is understood the…
A deanery meeting is to be held in Dublin diocese this week to set up a diocesan pastoral council and another special deanery meeting is planned later in the month to nominate people to the council. This comes as the diocese implements its pastoral strategic planning resource for 2025 to 2027. The structure being put…
Bishop William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne has issued an appeal to Catholic voters that when being canvassed over these days to ask prospective TDs to indicate clearly where they stand on assisted suicide/assisted death. “Our population is aging. The cost of nursing care is increasingly difficult for families. Enormous pressure will be brought to bear…
“Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins”. These words of Christ, spoken from a cross in the little church of San Damiano to St Francis of Assisi, crept into my mind when I took an old wooden pew in the little church of the Immaculate Heart…
Several inquiries needed on all schools, state facilities The most recent report revealing allegations of child sexual abuse in Catholic secondary schools makes for grim reading. The pain endured by victims of abuse in religious-run schools and the sense of scandal that it has given rise to cannot be minimised. Whatever the sense of injustice…
The catholic Archbishop of Freiburg , Stephan Burger, has said he is opposed to church funeral services for pets. “I am clearly in favour of an ethically responsible treatment of animals and am concerned about animal welfare. But we should not humanise animals. A catholic mourning rite specifically for pets is unthinkable for me,” he told…
At the weekend the Pope surprised a gathering of journalists in the Vatican by making an appeal to them for help, “not for money” he assured them, but to fight against disinformation and the denial of facts and reality. This appeal for help came as a prominent Cardinal in America heavily criticised the proposed Synod…
The Pope’s idea of co-responsibility for the Church is the mustard seed that may one day grow into a large tree and give shelter to all, writes Garry O’Sullivan Numbers don’t lie, yet we all know the phrase “Lies, damned lies, and statistics” a phrase that is described as “the persuasive power of statistics to…
The leadership of the Irish Church needs now to demonstrate clearly that it has heard the voice of the laity and clergy, so clearly expressed in the national synodal listening process. Furthermore it needs to be demonstrably accountable to the laity and clergy as the Archbishop of Dublin has said, ownership is passing from clergy…
The renewal and revival of the Church in Ireland needs to acknowledge the dying of the former model, writes Garry O’Sullivan Synodality and its listening process has been like following a prescribed cocktail of drugs. There’s all the ‘uppers’ of openness, listening, hopes and joys but then there’s the ‘downers’ of “we’ve been here before”,…