Michael Kelly is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in religious and social affairs. Born and raised in Northern Ireland, he attended the Pontifical University St Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where he studied social institutional communications. From 2002-2005 he was an Editor in the Central Information Service of Vatican Radio. In this role, he travelled with Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on overseas trips. In 2005, he returned to Dublin to take up the position of Deputy Editor with The Irish Catholic newspaper, succeeding as Editor in 2012. He is a regular contributor to programmes on RTÉ, BBC, UTV, CNN and Al Jazeera. He also have extensive experience offering media training and coaching in the voluntary sector. Mr Kelly is a weekly columnist with Ireland’s largest-selling secular newspaper the Irish Independent and has been published in The Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, The Irish News, The Guardian, Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic World Report, the National Catholic Reporter and the National Catholic Register. He writes from Ireland for Catholic News Service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Micheal finished his stint as Editor of The Irish Catholic in January 2024 and has taken up the position of Director of Public Affairs for Aid to the Church in Need Ireland.
It’s right to expose historic instances of abuse, but we can’t obsess about it at the expense of vulnerable children in need today writes Michael Kelly It hasn’t been a great week for Minister Roderick O’Gorman’s Department for Integration. Although, in fairness, one could probably write that any given week over his turbulent tenure…
Officials seem intent on mercy being the guiding principle, but that virtue was in short supply during pandemic writes Michael Kelly “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” is one of the best-known of the Beatitudes taught by Jesus. It’s a good mantra to live by, and even people who mightn’t describe themselves…
In just five years, we will mark the bicentenary of Catholic emancipation. Four years after that, in 2032, it will be 1,600 years since St Patrick’s mission to convert the Irish to Christianity. Catholic emancipation, of course, marked a turning point in the fortunes of Irish Catholicism after centuries of brutal persecution and repression by…
The year 2023 is not a year on which I will look back with undiluted pleasure. At this time of year, our thoughts naturally turn to those who are no longer with us. At a lot of our dinner tables this year, there will be an empty chair where there was unbridled joy and laughter just a year ago.
My colleague Fr Ron Rolheiser writes in this edition about connecting the dots between the crib and the cross. We’re not used to thinking about the cross at Christmas, but in one sense, Calvary always casts a permanent shadow over Bethlehem. Even today, it sometimes surprises pilgrims in the Holy Land that Golgotha and the…
Ask practising Catholics to tell you about their Church and their faith, and on the whole, you get glowing reports. There will be complaints, and stories of inadequacies, and reservations about this or that teaching, and no one knows the faults of the Church — collectively, and in this or that place — better than…
I think if we’re honest, none of us actually like waiting for things. Think of the tedium of waiting in the doctor’s surgery, or at the dentist. Or, if like me you use public transport, waiting on buses that never seem to arrive – and yet waiting is part of life. As is hope, as…
It hasn’t been a great week for ‘Team Ireland’, as successive governments have dubbed Ireland’s overseas diplomatic and trade efforts. Last week I observed in this column that “modern Ireland, for all the opportunities and good things, is also a sad, frightened, angry and unhappy place. “Naming this truth is the first step to healing…
Dominican friars in Dublin say they are praying for all involved after a stabbing incident at a nearby Catholic school in the bustling city centre of the capital. Eyewitness described a scene of terror after three children and their teacher, a woman in her 30s, were stabbed near the school on Thursday afternoon. The attack occurred…
Have you ever had an experience of being gaslit? Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse where a person (or institution) causes someone to question their sanity, memories, or perception of reality. People who experience gaslighting may feel confused, anxious, or unable to trust themselves. Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly…