Before the decade was over, America would be a vastly different nation, thanks in no small part to Irish Catholics. Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight was a dark year for Irish Catholics in America. It was, of course, the year Al Smith ran for president and lost. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant Ku Klux Klan played a major role in bringing down Smith, who lost “because of … [Read more...] about The 1930s: When Irish Catholics Changed America
Church
Bishop Sean O’Malley
Leads Flock in Boston
Bishop Sean O'Malley blesses a crowd with holy water at his installation ceremony in Boston. O'Malley apologized for the archdiocese's "inability and unwillingness to deal with the crime of sexual abuse of minors." He replaces Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in December amid the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese has paid out $21.2 million in legal … [Read more...] about Bishop Sean O’Malley
Leads Flock in Boston
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
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
Church Row
Recently elevated Dublin Cardinal Dr. Desmond Connell incited a row with the Archbishop of the Church of Ireland when in an interview with the Sunday Business Post he criticized the Church of Ireland for allowing all baptized Christians to receive Holy Communion at its services. "It is all very well to say that everybody whose conscience permits him is welcome to come to … [Read more...] about Church Row