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
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
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
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
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
An 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
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
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
Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar says religion should not be at the centre of society. Speaking on the weekend as Pope Francis made his first visit to Ireland, Varadkar noted since the last papal visit in 1979, Ireland has become more diverse. It is less religious and has modernised its laws on divorce, contraception, Read more
Irish victims of clergy abuse met with Pope Francis over the weekend during his visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. His meetings met with a mixed response, with disappointment expressed by some of victims while others left heartened that he would respond to their plight. Read more