A sister from Manorcunningham, Co. Donegal has been appointed by Pope Francis as a Member of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, Section for First Evangelisation and New Particular Churches. Sr Mary T. Barron, is the Congregational Leader for the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA). The congregation considers the appointment to be “a great…
Presentation Family celebrate First Profession of new Brother
The Presentation Family in Cork celebrated the first profession of a new Brother on June 1. Antony Sahayampillai (28), a native of Sri Lanka, has been studying in Ireland for the past three years. Br Antony’s vows were received by Br Barry Noel, Congregation Leader of the Presentation Brothers. The Mass of Religious Profession was…
A narrative which sees life, family, religion as dispensable
Letter of the Week A narrative which sees life, family, religion as dispensable Dear Editor, As we look back on a completely lacklustre European election campaign, we see that it ignored the most important challenge facing our continent, namely the impending social and economic collapse which is seen as inevitable by multiple demographic statisticians. No…
A self-important political echo chamber…
While there has been much talk of the UK looking likely to buck the trend of the move to the right in politics that is occurring across Europe with the impending election of a Labour government, ostensibly the local and European elections point towards a similar outcome in Ireland. With Fianna Fail and Fine Gael…
The Confession Box – Episode 21
Birthgap – is population collapse the next pandemic that dare not speak its name? On the latest episode of The Confession Box, host Wendy Grace talks to data scientist and demographer Stephen J. Shaw about the detrimental impacts of population decline. Stephen explains the shocking revelations from his documentary film “Birthgap – Childless World” including:…
New Auxiliary to head up city centre ‘restoration’ project
The recently appointed auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Paul Dempsey is to chair a group responsible for the pastoral renewal of Dublin City Centre, which will see two churches upgraded to Cathedral (St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral) and Minor Basilica status (St Andrew’s Westland Row) if approved by Rome. Substantial financial support is believed to be forthcoming for…
Irish Church can help young Catholics caught in housing crisis
The Irish Church can learn from parishes in America who are responding to the housing crisis by opening unused rectories to Catholics according to a leading Irish ministry leader and speaker based in California. “They’re starting to lease those to elderly communities, so the elderly can have assisted living communities. Or in my locality, a…
Pockets of Ireland on fire with faith says youth leader
‘Pockets of Ireland are on fire with the faith’ according to a youth minister in the Diocese of Raphoe (Donegal). Speaking to The Irish Catholic Keith Kelly praises the enthusiasm of young people in the Raphoe Diocese. He sees this as characteristic of young people in the Catholic Church across the world also: ‘‘Young people…
Christian man dies from wounds received in May attack in Pakistan
A Christian man attacked in Pakistan on May 25 died in the hospital on Monday, causing a leading bishop to call for stronger protection of religious minorities in the Muslim nation. According to local observers, hundreds of Muslims took part in the mob violence in Sargodha, Pakistan, located in the Punjab province, in May. The…
Collapse in teacher’s faith is an opportunity
The collapse in belief among teachers in Catholics schools offers a huge opportunity according to the Director for Outreach for Evangelisation and Discipleship with Loyola Press, Julianne Stanz, an Irish woman now living in America. Commenting on the recent Grace Report that showed that the next generation of Catholic school principals were unlikely to have…