World Mission Sunday A Day of Celebration and Renewed Support for Missions Worldwide On 15 December, 1849, a group of seven nuns from the Religious of the Assumption congregation in Paris arrived in Grahamstown, South Africa, under the leadership of 27-year-old Sr Marie Gertrude de Henningsen. They were invited by Wexford-born Bishop Aidan Devereux of…
World Mission Sunday A Day of Celebration and Renewed Support for Missions Worldwide Discover how Your Legacy can support Respond’s mission to Build Homes and Improve Lives by including a Gift in Your Will Ireland is facing a severe housing crisis, with more people than ever before experiencing homelessness. This has placed tremendous pressure on…
World Mission Sunday A Day of Celebration and Renewed Support for Missions Worldwide In October each year we are reminded that the Church is missionary. Pope Francis underlines this truth by his journeys to the margins or peripheries of the world. He, like his namesake St Francis, has made the World his cloister bringing the…
Bishop Murray died in the early hours of Sunday at Milford Care Centre where he had spent the past 18 months. He was in the company of Frs Noel Kirwan and Liam Enright on his passing. Reflecting on his life, Bishop Leahy said that Bishop Murray made an enormous contribution to spiritual nourishment of the…
Today is the day that the Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Act 2024 comes into operation in Ireland, marking an important landmark in Ireland’s drift towards authoritarianism and progressive restrictions on civil liberties. This Act designates 100m Safe Access Zones around certain premises where abortions are or may be taking place, where “conduct”…
Prof Michael Mullaney is stepping down as President of St Patrick’s College Maynooth in a move that took friends and colleagues by surprise. In a statement to The Irish Catholic Professor Mullaney wrote: “After 25 years of service to St Patrick’s College in various roles and responsibilities, which have been immensely rewarding and a privilege,…
Speaking after the second anniversary of the Creeslough tragedy, where 10 people lost their lives after a sudden explosion occurred on the premises of a petrol station in Co. Donegal, Fr John Joe Duffy, hailed for his ministry to the community as parish priest at the time, said that people are now attempting to “come to…
Monasticism in Ireland AD 900-1250, by Edel Bhreathnach (Four Courts Press, €45 / £51.50) This volume arises from the Monastic Ireland project begun in 2011 and is a follow-up to Monastic Europe (Brepols, 2019), edited by the author. It provides an extremely wide-ranging overview of academic developments in the almost hundred years since John…
The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has appointed Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe as its delegate for the 2025 Jubilee Year. Bishop Monahan announced the launch of a countdown timer on CatholicBishops.ie to help people anticipate the Holy Year. Various groups, including clergy, religious communities, and lay ministries, will mark special jubilee occasions both in Rome…
Sr Hosea Rupprecht Think for just a moment about the pace at which digital technology has grown over the past 20 years. Saying ‘fast’ would be a bit of an understatement. Most of the time, the expansion and innovations of the digital culture leave our heads spinning. Now, with generative artificial intelligence, or AI, there’s…