The latest census for Northern Ireland indicates that the numerical gap between Protestants and Catholics is steadily narrowing. According to this year's figures Protestants comprise 53 percent of the population in the North with Catholics making up 44 percent. The census tallies with a familiar trend of a growing Catholic community with the number of Protestants in … [Read more...] about Catholic Growth Continues
in Northern Census
Catholic Church
Catholic Growth Continues
The Church on the Irish Ridge
The decay of an Irish American landmark. ℘℘℘ The glass factory, feed mills, saloons and boat repair facilities that once lined the canal are gone. But the fitted limestone walls that mark either side of the original waterway are still there -- a testament to Irish immigrants who built it and the many who died in its construction. Bypassed when the "new" Erie Barge Canal was … [Read more...] about The Church on the Irish Ridge
Irish Catholic Church
Faces New Crisis
The Irish Government is to set up an inquiry into how sex abuse allegations were dealt with in the Dublin diocese amid ongoing allegations that Cardinal Connell and his staff failed to cooperate with police in investigating paedophiles.
Cardinal Desmond Connell has repeatedly apologized to the victims of abuse for the hurt they suffered, but his apologies, at this stage, are … [Read more...] about Irish Catholic Church
Faces New Crisis
The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish
On the surface everything at two County Clare villages in the west of Ireland appears as it's always been. Church bells tolling across Lough Graney call the faithful to Sunday services at Kilanena and Flagmount. The two churches make up one parish either side of the lake, but these days the parish is getting by without a priest of its own.
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By the time Fr. Michael Collins … [Read more...] about The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish
The Catholic Church in Crisis
As in the U.S., the Church in Ireland is in crisis over continuing allegations of clerical child abuse. The scandal has taken its first scalp with the forced resignation of the Bishop of Ferns, Dr. Brendan Comiskey, for his mishandling of child abuse cases in his diocese. But there is ongoing pressure on some of the church's most senior clergymen, particularly Cardinal Desmond … [Read more...] about The Catholic Church in Crisis