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Thursday 23 March 2023 Dublin: 7°C

# Religion

All time
# Abuse
Mary McAleese says her brother was 'seriously, physically, sadistically abused by Malachy Finnegan'
“My mother, almost 90 years of age, had to discover that from the Belfast Telegraph three weeks ago.”
# empire of misogyny
Diarmuid Martin says Mary McAleese's criticism of the Church was 'brutally stark'
The former president has called on Pope Francis to address gender inequality in the Catholic Church.
# Mary McAleese
'Male celibates advise the Pope on what women really want, that is ludicrous'
The former president said women aren’t ‘mysteries’ or ‘strawberries on the cake’, despite what popes have called them.
# namesake
'I haven't taken a senior player' - Martin O'Neill upset with Michael for bringing religion into allegiance debate
The Republic of Ireland manager was responding to an interview his counterpart did earlier this week.
# misogyny
Mary McAleese says it's 'pure codology' that women can't become priests
The former president also called the Catholic Church an “empire of misogyny”.
# thanks be to god
Mass-goers told there is 'no obligation' to attend religious services today
The public has been told they can view mass online instead.
# RIP
Tributes paid to influential US preacher Billy Graham who has died at age 99
He was the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history.
# losing my religion
Atheist Ireland calls for bibles to be removed from referendum polling stations
The group calls the current system “discriminatory”.
# Spotlight
Disgraced Boston cardinal at the centre of Spotlight case dies
Law had been sick and was recently hospitalised in Rome.
# religious orders
Government plans to scrap provision allowing church to appoint teachers and principals
Current criteria allows the Catholic church to appoint nuns, priests, monks and brothers as principals and teachers in schools.
# Discrimination
Man loses case against Irish council's refusal to hold ceremony for Christians killed by IS
The man had claimed the council was discriminating against him on religious grounds by refusing to hold a wreath-laying ceremony.
# Your Say
Poll: Would you like to attend the Pope's mass in Ireland?
Pope Francis is set to visit the country next year.
# rohingya crisis
Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar on high-stakes visit
He is expected to address claims of ethnic cleansing in the region.
# iPope
The Pope had to tell bishops to put down their phones in mass today
Bishops love technology.
# The Meaning of Life
Stephen Fry says he was 'enchanted' to be caught up in blasphemy row
He described our “unworkable” blasphemy legislation as “a wonderfully Irish solution”.
# dramatic sterility
Pope Francis has criticised Europe's low birth rates at a bishops' conference
In 2014 Pope Francis described the EU as a “grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant”.
# Birmingham
UK court rules that Islamic school's gender segregation is unlawful
The Al-Hijrah School argued that the segregation policy was one of the “defining characteristics” of the school.
# Census 2016
At 88.6%, Offaly has the highest percentage of Catholics in Ireland
Ireland’s population of Roman Catholics has fallen since 2011.
Voices
Opinion: 'Debating religious ideas isn't inciting to hatred'
Introducing a blasphemy law in the 21st century has damaged our reputation internationally, writes Selina Campbell.
# religious freedom
'Contempt for women reaches a new low': Trump administration rolls back free birth control access
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in response to the announcement.
# Job application
Man who listed 'standing up against homosexuality' as achievement loses discrimination case
Mark Savage claimed he was told to remove the line from his CV.
# Church and State
Bishops have 'constructive' meeting with Varadkar and ministers
The agenda for the meeting included the Eighth Amendment and the possibility of a visit to Ireland by Pope Francis.
# Religious Festival
Three days of mourning in Madeira after falling tree kills 13 people
Dozens more were injured, some seriously.
# Madeira
'It happened in the middle of mass': 12 killed and 50 injured by falling tree at religious Portuguese festival
A 200-year-old oak tree fell on people gathered outside a church.
# Knock
'Grandparents are the anchor of many families - but we don't always recognise that'
The Catholic Grandparents Association is holding its annual pilgrimage to Knock next month (and will feature a performance from Dana).
# the last supper
'The priests are all old men now, and so are we': Heartbreak at Limerick's last male-only Mass
Members are disappointed that there was no vote before the decision was made to end the 150-year-old service.
# Workplace Relations
Dublin bakery's refusal to make anti-gay marriage cake 'was not discrimination'
“BY THE GRACE OF THE GOOD LORD.”
# wafer or wine
Concern from Catholics, but gluten-free communion host IS available in Ireland
A new statement from the Vatican had some people confused.
Voices
Opinion: 'Leo is right to welcome people who have socially conservative views'
Pushing Christians whose politics are shaped by their religious convictions to the periphery is wrong and dumb, writes Larry Donnelly.
# mass appeal
Huge growth in numbers attending Irish Christian conference for 'anyone who loves Jesus'
A ‘miracle night’ was held by Ireland4Jesus as part of events in Dublin last weekend.
# end of life matters
'You can only do a funeral once, and you have to do it right': The story behind RIP.ie
We speak to one of the siblings behind the death notice website.
# Your Say
Poll: Should the Angelus be scrapped?
Some people think it’s not appropriate in modern Ireland.
# National Maternity Hospital
'It was clear that public opinion influenced the Sisters of Charity's decision'
But who now owns the National Maternity Hospital? The government still needs to clarify its position.
# Distraction
Philippine authorities ban hanging rosary beads off car dashboards
“With these religious images, drivers feel they are safer, that there is divine intervention and they are being guided and protected.”
# Our Lady's Grove
Five acres of Dublin school grounds to be sold by religious order
“It feels like the school’s being stripped back,” one parent said.
# Vatican visit
Climate Bells: The gift Michael D Higgins gave Pope Francis today
President Higgins was expected to discuss ‘issues of global importance’ with the Pope in the Vatican today.
# Mountjoy Prison
Chalice given back to Spike Island after 134 years in Dublin
When the island ceased to be a prison in June 1883 the chalice was taken to Mountjoy Prison.
# Faith
Ireland's first ever beatification to take place in Dublin this morning
The ceremony will make a formal request for the beatification of Dublin man Fr John Sullivan, who died in 1933.
# George Lemaitre
Vatican celebrates big bang theory to dispel 'science conflict'
The head of the Vatican Observatory said people can believe in both God and the big bang theory.
# The Meaning of Life
Simon Harris says Ireland's blasphemy laws are 'silly' and 'embarrassing'
It’s been suggested by experts that our current blasphemy laws are ‘unenforceable’.