Did the Vatican over-rely on the advice of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on a papal visit to the North, asks Martin O’Brien Why should a Papal visit to the North that enjoyed the enthusiastic support of the Irish and British governments, the Protestant Church leaders, not to mention the Northern bishops to a man, (and…
One of the country’s smallest dioceses remains in turmoil with questions now being asked about its future, writes Martin O’Brien This is a Holy Week and Easter like none before in the history of the Diocese of Dromore, and for all the wrong reasons. The diocese, one of the smallest in the country, headquartered…
A look back at our 2015 profile of the former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese Four years, almost to the day, since she retired after 14 momentous years as eighth President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, devout and questioning Catholic, stateswoman, peacemaker, Pope Francis admirer, qualified Canon lawyer, wife, mother and grandmother, is relishing the…
The Bishop of Dromore tells Martin O’Brien about ‘missed opportunities’ to expose appalling crimes During my long stint producing BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence, dominated by the apparently unending clerical sex abuse scandals, one bishop was more available than any other to come on the radio to face the music. That bishop demonstrated then…
Martin O’Brien meets Fr Edward O’Donnell, a priest happy in his ministry and his own skin Fr Edward O’Donnell, first ever Catholic ecumenical canon in Belfast’s Protestant cathedral, parish priest in one of the North’ s most well to do areas, former private secretary to the late Bishop Cahal Daly, noted homilist, and proud…
Church leaders need a cultural shift to see the media as a partner rather than an adversary, writes Martin O’Brien What is the perception of the Irish Churches among the secular media in terms of getting out their story? Dynamic and missionary, which are words that I would associate with an 81-year-old man, Pope…
Having been thrust into the public eye in the most awful circumstances imaginable, John McAreavey remains a man of immense faith and courage, writes Martin O’Brien The two hours we had agreed for this rare and exclusive interview, requested by The Irish Catholic, just flew by. So, I was sorry when John McAreavey, husband…
The Vatican foreign minister’s lecture raised as many questions as it provided answers writes Martin O’Brien It was a considerable coup for the organisers to secure as distinguished and high-powered a figure as the Vatican’s foreign minister to deliver the Cardinal Cahal B. Daly Centenary Memorial lecture in Queen’s University, Belfast at the weekend.…
Maria Garvey – whose vocation has been to untap and develop the great gifts and possibilities of persons with special needs and to empower them to transform the rest of us – remembers the moment more than 40 years ago as if it was yesterday. It changed her life forever, just as several dreams which…
There are three words that recur when you talk to Seamus McDonald, KSG, retired teacher, first-ever Irish secretary general of Unum Omnes, the International Council of Catholic Men, stalwart of the Knights of Saint Columbanus for more than 30 years and former pioneering GAA official in Co. Tyrone. They are ‘service’, ‘community’ and ‘parish’. They…