Twenty-one new seminarians have begun their 2024-2025 academic programme and priestly formation for Irish dioceses. Welcoming the new student intake, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, chair of the Bishops’ Council for Vocations, said, “It is really heartening that twenty-one men have started as seminarians in various locations to study on propaedeutic courses. This brings the number of Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Catholic church in Ireland’
Young adult ministry sparking up Catholic Church in Ireland
Monday, July 1st, 2024
Ireland’s first “Intentional Young Adult Ministry” event was a great success if participant numbers and enthusiasm are measures. Over 160 young adults from all over Ireland gathered for the get-together. The brainchild of the Irish Catholic bishops, the Intentional Young Adult Ministry event comprised participant-led activities, reflection and a Mass. Energy and enthusiasm Keynote speaker Read more
Irish bishops call for 30% of church grounds for biodiversity
Monday, July 3rd, 2023
The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has urged parishes across Ireland to dedicate 30% of their church grounds for biodiversity and pollinators so grounds can be enjoyed “in perpetuity by the whole community.” The initiative aims to protect local biodiversity, raise awareness about global conservation efforts and emphasise the role of people of faith in safeguarding Read more
Irish Catholic Church launches priest recruitment drive
Thursday, May 4th, 2023The Catholic Church in Ireland has launched a Year for Vocations as it battles a huge drop in the number of men going to seminaries. Where once every large family in the country expected one son to join the priesthood, the scandals that have rocked the Church in the last two decades have meant the Read more
30 per cent of Ireland’s Catholic parish grounds to be ‘rewilded’ by 2030
Thursday, March 16th, 2023Parishes often take a certain pride in how neat and tidy their grounds are – but soon they will be more concerned about letting them grow wild and attracting bees and butterflies. Following their spring general meeting Catholic bishops’ said they were asking parishes across Ireland to give over almost a third of their grounds Read more
Extra clothes, shorter Mass times – Irish churches address rising energy bills
Monday, October 10th, 2022
Some Irish churches have introduced shorter Masses, and parishioners have been advised to wear extra clothes in church as Catholic clergy grapple with rising energy bills. Fr Andrew O’Sullivan, a parish priest in Dublin, said increased costs made it financially challenging for parishes to continue heating buildings, despite churches being ‘freezing’. He has been forced Read more
You’re not listening! – say young Catholics in Ireland about synod
Thursday, August 11th, 2022
A group of 500 young Catholics in Ireland have sent a jointly signed letter to the Synod Steering Committee. The Committee is responsible for gathering and summarising responses to questionnaires for the Irish Synodal Pathway. The young Catholics wrote that they love the Church’s teaching, but their voices have not been heard. The process leading Read more
Moving Church from maintenance to mission
Monday, June 27th, 2022
The Catholic Church in Ireland is “moving from maintenance to mission” and needs to renew and refresh itself, Archbishop Eamon Martin says. Martin made the comment after attending Ireland’s national pre-synodal assembly this week. “The question is — what next? “We are still not entirely certain, but we are open to what the Holy Spirit Read more
Most Irish Catholics want ordination of women and marriage for priests
Monday, June 20th, 2022The great majority of practising Irish Catholics favour the ordination of women, marriage for priests who want it, greater roles for divorced and remarried people or couples and single parents, and more respect for LGBTQI+ people. They also want better-prepared, shorter sermons and the removal of bloodthirsty Old Testament readings from Masses and other liturgies, Read more
Priest shortage presents ‘great challenges’ in Ireland
Monday, June 13th, 2022
The Archbishop of Dublin has acknowledged that his diocese, the largest in Ireland, is facing “great challenges” due to a shortage of priests. Archbishop Dermot Farrell (pictured) has pledged to respond “positively and swiftly” to new proposals put forward by his parishes to deal with the challenge. “We face a particular challenge in the shortage Read more