Letter of the week We must not be complacent on hate speech laws Dear Editor, I was heartened to read that the proposed hate speech legislation had been shelved, at least for now, as reported in your recent article [The Irish Catholic – September 26, 2024]. The decision by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to…
There is a new dimension at play as the Church in Ireland seeks to come to terms with the latest round of outrage in regard to past abuses. In the intervening years, partly in response to the need for specialist expertise but also due to the decline of numbers of priests and religious, many Catholic…
Catholic patrons of primary schools are fully in favour of the reconfiguration of schools to better reflect the pluralist nature of society but this is being blocked by a discrimatory provision which forces (only) Catholic schools to take children whose families may not subscribe to the Catholic ethos, according to Alan Hynes, chief executive of…
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai expressed “profound sorrow” over the “devastating toll” of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, the country’s state news agency NNA reported September 22. In his Sunday homily September 22, he said the “unprecedented” attacks are “devoid of humanity”. NNA reported that Israeli aircraft carried out a total of 111 airstrikes on southern…
The blood of St Januarius liquefied on last Thursday before a Mass in Naples, Italy, where the archbishop said that the blood of the fourth-century martyr is a powerful reminder that “love is stronger than death”. Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples held up an ampoule containing the relic of the saint’s blood in the Naples…
Safeguarding Sunday has become a regular feature on the calendar of the Archdiocese of Dublin. The idea is to ensure that parishes and communities are acutely aware that the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults was not a single moment or piece of work that was undertaken in reaction to sickening abuse reports, but the…
Letter of the week Every attempt is seized on to attack the Church Dear Editor, Apparently, we will soon exercise our democratic right to vote in a general election. The Sunday Independent poll tells us that two-thirds of the population back a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael coalition for another term. These parties have a majority in…
Speaking for the first time on the matter of President Higgin’s letter to the new Iranian head of state, and his subsequent claim in New York that it was circulated by the Israeli embassy in Dublin, the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich told The Irish Catholic that the President’s claims were a “baseless accusation”. …
Patrick Kielty has revealed he thought he had given Pope Francis shingles after meeting him at the Vatican over the summer. The Late Late Show host travelled to the Vatican in June and was among an audience of 100 international comedians and artists who met the Pope. The Co. Down man described meeting the Pontiff as “surreal”. “That was…
Chai Brady, Brandon Scott, Renata Milan Morales, Renata Steffens The number of men entering formal seminary studies for dioceses around the country has reached 16 this year, according to figures compiled by The Irish Catholic The number of priests entering seminary hit an all-time low in 2021 with just six men putting themselves forward but…