An Irish Government Minister who campaigned for a “Yes” vote in the recent abortion referendum, led a prayer service at her local parish last weekend. Josepha Madigan, who is Ireland’s Minister for Culture, offered to lead a liturgy service because the priest wasn’t available. She was also a Minister for the Eucharist distributing consecrated hosts at Read more
Ireland’s former president, Mary McAleese, says baptising babies is a violation of their human rights. By baptising children before they have reached the age of reason, the Church is creating “infant conscripts who are held to lifelong obligations of obedience,” she says. “You can’t impose, really, obligations on people who are only two weeks old Read more
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has been tipped to sing before Pope Francis at the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin later this year. Negotiations are ongoing to secure the singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. If he does sign up for the concert, Bocelli will sing at the Festival of Read more
Irish hospitals that receive government money will be expected to carry out abortions when new abortion laws come into effect. This includes hospitals with a Catholic character, the Irish prime minister says. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says doctors, nurses and midwives could opt out of performing procedures on conscience grounds. If they want to keep Read more
Ireland’s President Michael Higgins has described the treatment of women and children in state-controlled institutions managed by the Catholic Church as a “deep stain on Ireland’s past.” During an historic ceremony to honor former residents of Magdalene laundries, Higgins apologised to the women, whom he called “survivors of the Magdalene regime. “All of you and Read more
The overwhelming vote in Ireland in favor of allowing access to abortion shows that the pro-life movement needs a new strategy. Trying to preserve anti-abortion laws or trying to reverse the legalization of abortion is simply not working. In almost every country where abortion has been on the ballot, abortion has won. Rarely have pro-choice Read more
Catholic “yes” voters in Ireland’s Eighth Amendment abortion referendum should not be allowed to marry in a Catholic Church, say two priests from Northern Ireland. In a letter to the Belfast Telegraph, Father Patrick McCafferty said yes voters should “get married in City Hall.” It is “dishonest to have a wedding in a church if Read more
Irish people voted on Friday to ditch the country’s strict abortion laws. The landslide result overwhelmingly supported repealing the 1983 constitutional ban on abortions. The referendum results showed that among 2.1 million votes cast, 1.4 million were in favour of repealing the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. The Amendment says a mother and unborn child have an Read more
Ireland’s Catholic bishops considered resigning en masse following the publication of the Ryan and Murphy reports into child abuse in 2009, former president Mary McAleese has said. Read more
A Jesuit priest whose father was a leader in Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising has died. Fr Joseph Mallin, who was 104, died on Easter Sunday in Hong Kong. His father, Commandant Michael Mallin, was in command of the Irish Citizen Army at St Stephen’s Green during Easter week 1916. Michael was executed by a firing Read more