A 22-year-old man became the first person in recorded Irish history to sustain a snake bite, roughly 1,600 years after St. Patrick is said to have banished all serpents from that nation. Catholic tradition has it that St. Patrick drove them all off a cliff in the 5th century. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’
“Called to More” helps young Catholics know their faith
Thursday, February 27th, 2020
A new online faith formation platform was launched in Ireland, Wednesday. Called to More aims to help young Catholics know their faith by providing high-quality online content. On its website Called to More offers podcasts and articles and promotes itself on Facebook and Instagram. Today Co-Founder Katie Ascough says Called to More seeks to communicate Read more
McAleese: Church makes women invisible
Monday, November 4th, 2019
Former Irish president Mary McAleese had straight words to say at a conference in Trinity College Dublin on Saturday afternoon. Under the title “The Women The Vatican Couldn’t Silence,” she spoke of asylum seekers, the role of women in the church and cowardly bishops. Beginning with the issue of asylum seekers, but without specifically referring Read more
Three Catholic schools leave church for state
Thursday, August 29th, 2019
The Catholic church has given up its patronage of three Irish rural schools to save them from closure. They are the first schools to abandon their Catholic ethos and become multi-denominational state-run schools. Many of the children at the tiny schools come from non-religious homes or are not Catholic. One effect of the change is Read more
Radical overhaul may see reduction in dioceses
Monday, April 1st, 2019
A radical overhaul of the Catholic church in Ireland may see a reduction in the number of dioceses in the Irish Church, says Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. Martin has also called for a radical overhaul in the training of priests. Outlining his vision for renewal which would include a “reduction and rationalisation of dioceses” Read more
Short-change Catholic funerals for priests accused of sex abuse
Monday, November 26th, 2018
Catholic funerals for priests who die while facing accusations of sexual abuse are now subject to new rules in Ireland. The National Board for Safeguarding Children’s guidelines to church authorities include ways to discreetly conduct the funerals of clerics who had allegations made against them. Some dioceses have added to these guidelines. They say funerals Read more
Church should help pay to excavate site for 800 dead infants
Thursday, November 1st, 2018
The Church should help pay for the €13 million needed to excavate the site of a former mother and baby home in County Galway, says Irish Children’s minister, Catherine Zappone. She has written to Pope Francis asking the Vatican to “contribute substantially” towards the excavation. About 800 infants aged from about 35 foetal weeks up Read more
Bishop sets up exorcism squad
Monday, October 15th, 2018An exorcism squad has been set up in Ireland by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan. Cullinan says he is establishing a “Delivery Ministry”. One priest in Cullinan’s diocese of Waterford and Lismore will start training clerics in the practice of exorcism. Cullinan says he made the decision after receiving a number of requests for help in warding Read more
Dublin councillors block Magdalene Laundry sale
Thursday, September 6th, 2018
Several Dublin councillors are trying to stop the sale to a Japanese hotel chain of the last Magdalene Laundry building still in state possession. They have the support of over 9,500 people who have signed a petition to stop the sale. The Magdalene Laundries were Catholic-run workhouses for “fallen women”, unmarried mothers and orphans. The Read more
Pope in Ireland: Who won, who lost
Thursday, August 30th, 2018
Now that the dust has begun to settle on Pope Francis’s whirlwind 32-hour visit to Ireland over the weekend, it’s time to step back and draw some tentative conclusions about how the pontiff fared, as well as who else gained and lost from the experience. A qualified success At one level, it’s easy to assume Read more