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August 16, 2018

Pressure mounts for Pope to address abuse scandal leading up to World Meeting of Families

Marie Collins, center, then member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, watches as Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, president of the commission, speaks during a briefing at the Vatican May 3, 2014. Collins, who left the commission, told the Irish Times that Pope Francis "should admit responsibility the Vatican and church leadership hold for past events in Ireland." Also pictured is Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a professor of psychology and president of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
VATICAN – Pope Francis is traveling to Ireland specifically for the World Meeting of Families, but the sex abuse crisis is dominating headlines before his Aug. 25-26 trip.
Published in International
June 26, 2018

Baptism of infants violates human rights, former Irish president says

Former Irish President Mary McAleese is pictured in a 2015 photo, speaking at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome
DUBLIN, Ireland – Former Irish President Mary McAleese has said that the baptism of infants is a form of coercion, calling on the Catholic Church to change its practice.
Published in International
June 7, 2018

Peter Stockland: Irish turn their backs on faith and history

Demonstrators march for more liberal Irish abortion laws in 2013 in Dublin. The May 25 referendum vote favoured abortion.

If tradition is the democracy of the dead, as G.K. Chesterton famously said, surely abortion has become a tyranny of the living over life past and future.

Published in Register Columnists
June 6, 2018

Irish president apologizes to women sent to Magdalene laundries

President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland delivers his address during the State of the Union conference in Florence, Italy, May 10. During a June 5 ceremony in Dublin, Higgins honored and apologized to women who once labored in the country's Magdalene laundries that were run by religious orders.
DUBLIN – President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland described the treatment of women and children in state-controlled institutions managed by the Catholic Church as a "deep stain on Ireland's past."
Published in International
May 28, 2018

Irish bishop hopes papal visit can help bring healing after abortion vote

A voter casts his ballot May 25 in Dublin as Ireland holds a referendum on its law on abortion. Voters opted by a margin of 66.4 percent to 33.6 percent to remove the right to life of the unborn from the constitution.
DUBLIN – An Irish bishop said he hopes Pope Francis' August visit can help bring healing after a divisive referendum that will pave the way for abortion on demand up to 12 weeks' gestation.
Published in International
May 26, 2018

Voters in Ireland pave way for abortion on demand

A woman religious casts her ballot May 25 in Dublin as Ireland holds a referendum on its law on abortion. Voters went to the polls May 25 to decide whether to liberalize the country's abortion laws.
DUBLIN – Voters in Ireland have opted to remove the right to life of the unborn from the country's constitution, paving the way for abortion on demand up to 12 weeks.
Published in International
May 21, 2018

Irish bishops make final appeal for a 'no' vote on abortion referendum

People walk past a pro-life poster in Dublin May 7. Ireland votes May 25 on whether the right to life of the unborn should continue to be enshrined in the constitution.
DUBLIN – Irish bishops used Pentecost Sunday Masses to make a final appeal for people to reject a government proposal to remove the right to life of unborn children from the country's constitution and pave the way for abortion up to 12 weeks' gestation.
Published in International
April 19, 2018

Irish pro-lifers launch 'vote no' campaign for referendum on unborn

Amy Grenhan, Sinead Slattery and Miriam Smith pose at the launch of the Love Both campaign in Dublin. A May 25 referendum proposes to remove the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which gives protection for unborn children.
DUBLIN – Pro-life activists have launched a campaign urging citizens to vote no in a forthcoming referendum to remove the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution. That amendment provides legal protection for unborn children "with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother."
Published in International
July 9, 2017

Rise in priest suicides prompts call for helpline in Ireland

At least eight priests in Ireland have committed suicide in the past 10 years in Ireland, according to recent reports given at meetings of the Association of Catholic Priests.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Besides a shortage of vocations, Irish priests are facing an even more harrowing kind of crisis.

Published in International
June 7, 2017

Irish bishops praise supreme court ruling recognizing the dignity of work

Ireland's Supreme Court ruled May 30 that laws which indefinitely prohibit asylum seekers from gaining employment were unconstitutional.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Ireland's Catholic bishops have praised a Supreme Court decision in the country that will allow asylum seekers to find work while their status is being decided.

Published in International
May 22, 2017

As Catholic influence in Ireland wanes, support for legalizing abortion rises

Demonstrators take part in a protest on Sept. 24, 2016, in Dublin to urge the Irish government to repeal the eighth amendment to the constitution, which enforces strict limitations to a woman's right to an abortion.

DUBLIN – Bronagh Matthews, an office manager in her 30s, lives on the rural edge of North County Dublin. She attended an all-girls Catholic high school and a Catholic college and still identifies as Roman Catholic.

Published in International
April 30, 2017

Story behind soon-to-be beatified Irish priest whose prayers could heal

Irish Jesuit priest John Sullivan, who was known for his healing prayers, sets to become the first ever person to be beatified in Ireland May 13.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Father John Sullivan was a prominent Irish Catholic convert who was known for his healing prayers, his consolation for the troubled, and his devotion to God.

Published in International
March 30, 2017

Facing sharp decline in priest numbers, an Irish diocese preps for change

Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnois recently wrote a pastoral letter telling parishioners that they may need to take on more responsibilities as the number of priests in the diocese declines.

LONGFORD, Ireland – In one Irish diocese, the number of active priests may halve in fewer than 15 years. As a result, Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnois has aimed to prepare his flock to take on more active roles.

Published in International
March 16, 2017

Irish archbishop: St. Patrick was an 'undocumented migrant'

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, urge Irish people to remember the plight of migrants as they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

ARMAGH, Northern Ireland – The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has urged Irish people and those of Irish descent celebrating St. Patrick's Day to remember the plight of migrants.

Published in International
March 10, 2017

Speaking Out: St. Patrick among my holy heroes

Youth Speak New's Patrick Grant writes about his connection with the saint his parents named him after.

My parents gave me the name Patrick after St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

Published in YSN: Speaking Out
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