Ireland Archives

Ireland could legalize abortion just as Pope Francis visits the country

Pope Francis’ expected visit to Ireland in 2018 for the World Meeting of Families will be happening during one of the most intense political debates in recent decades. On Sunday, a Citizens’ Assembly proposed the country change protections for the unborn in the constitution. The announcement came just two years after another referendum legalized same-sex marriage in the predominantly Catholic state.

With decline in priest numbers, an Irish diocese preps for change

With the number of active priests plummeting in the area, Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnois calls his flock to take on more active roles. In a pastoral letter, Duffy lamented the lack of new vocations as well as the difficulties ahead and prepared the community for change.

Northern Ireland bids farewell to ex-IRA chief McGuinness
- Associated Press
- March 24, 2017
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton praised former Irish Republican Army commander Martin McGuinness as a leader able to grow beyond what he called “a time of rage and resentment” and pursue policies such as his acceptance of police authority, his role in helping to govern a Northern Ireland state that the IRA long pledged to destroy, and his rejection of IRA splinter groups still trying to upset the peace. McGuinness died on Tuesday at the age of 66.
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These monks in Ireland spend their lives praying for priests
- Catholic News Agency, Global Church
- March 18, 2017
Ireland has been hard hit by scandals involving the sins of priests in recent years, but it’s also home to a new Benedictine priory with a commitment to prayer for the sanctification of priests, rooted in St. Benedict’s example of adaptation to changing circumstances.
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In a changing city, look back at the Irish archbishops who built the Church in New York
- Church in the US, Interviews
- March 17, 2017
Ireland has played an important role in the life of the Catholic Church in America, and nowhere is this more apparent than in New York City, where every archbishop has been of Irish heritage. A new book – ‘Sons of St. Patrick: A History of the Archbishops of New York from Dagger John to Timmytown’ – looks at this history.
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