Three years ago this week, on the April 20, 2022, a group of 38 teachers, lecturers and students from various schools and colleges in Ireland left the Villa Palazzola in the Roman hills in the early hours of the morning to beat the rush-hour traffic. We had been invited to a private audience with Pope…
Pope Francis was a widely beloved personality, and it was graceful to see even some Unionist politicians pay tribute to the Holy Father. His memoir, Hope, co-written with Carlo Musso, was an enjoyable read and brought an insight into Francis’s thinking and influences. Growing up in a poor barrio of Buenos Aires, he learned to…
Pope Francis was famous for his love of the Tango – and indeed hundreds of couples performed this Latin dance in St Peter’s Square to mark his 78th birthday in 2014. But Francis later confessed he had a preference for the Milonga – a faster, more intense version of this amazing dance, which is perhaps…
Hundreds of adults come home to the Faith More than 100 catechumens were welcomed into the Catholic Church across Ireland during the Easter ceremonies and most were young adults from diverse backgrounds. Seventeen adults were received into the Catholic Church at Galway Cathedral during the Easter Vigil; in Dublin, over 70 adults went to their…
Mercy and compassion “Mercy is the true power that can save humanity and the world from sin and evil. Love makes us draw closer to others, it is the soul of faith, it makes faith fruitful. Without love, faith dies. Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life; all of her pastoral activity should…
The role of women in the Church is contentious, even among Catholic women. Some believe that women will never be truly equal in the Church unless they are admitted to the ordained priesthood. Some emphasise women’s primary roles within family and parish settings. Others advocate for greater inclusion of women’s voices at all levels of…
When Jorge Mario Bergoglio first appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s in March, 2013, we knew we were going to be dealing with a different style of papacy. He appeared before the world in simple white, rather than the more ornate vestments of his predecessors and gave the crowd below a simple wave. He…
Pope Francis’s passing comes during the 10th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking encyclical Laudato Si’ – On Care for our Common Home – which examined Catholic environmental teaching in the light of today’s planetary crisis. Over the past 10 years, Pope Francis’s leadership has borne initiatives that have transformed the Catholic Church into…
Celebrating the centenary of the canonisation of St Thérèse of Lisieux, a rare first-edition of her biography will be returned home through the hands of an Irish priest. Fr Declan Hurley, Adm. St Mary’s Presbytery, Navan and Chairperson of the National Synodal Team, bought the book in an auction in 2022 and will return it to the…
A recent survey from Britain found that young men more than young women are turning up at church. In the demographic of 18–24-year-olds, 12% of young women are attending regularly in contrast to the 21% of men in this age group. Observing this reality taking place in Galway, Fr Conor McDonough OP shared on his…
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy
Renata Milán Morales
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Renata Steffens