The Catholic Church hierarchy here has said it will no longer carry out the civil elements of weddings if marriage is extended to gay couples.

The funerals of two of the young women killed in Tuesday's crash in Co Kildare are taking place in Carlow today.

A private service will take place in Carlow this afternoon for the four women who died in a road accident in Co Kildare on Tuesday.

A complaint by the Diocese of Meath against RTÉ has been upheld by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

Schools with large infant intakes may be allowed extra staff to avoid putting them into larger classes later this year.

THE decision by the Taoiseach to publicly support same-sex marriage will mean he is about to have a fight on his hands, firstly from conservative Fine Gael backbenchers but, more volubly, from the leaders of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Siptu has claimed a former employee of the Diocese of Galway has been threatened with a legal injunction over plans to mount a protest outside a church on Sunday.

Church leaders have warned they will no longer carry out the civil functions at weddings if gay marriage is introduced.

The Catholic Communications Office is considering whether to lodge an official complaint with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland after RTÉ stood over a controversial sketch by comedian Mario Rosenstock.

Comedian Mario Rosenstock has hit back at the Catholic Communications Office after the Church’s press office lodged a formal complaint with RTÉ over a sketch in Rosenstock’s television show.

Recent coverage by the Irish Examiner concerning the right to life of the unborn seems to indicate a bias in favour of abortion in Ireland.

Survivors of industrial abuse have accused the Irish Catholic hierarchy of “trying to cut us dead” in the past year and have threatened, in a protest action, to walk 253km from Cork to Dublin during the week of the Eucharistic Congress.

The country’s bishops would support the holding of a national day of atonement where the Church, State, and citizens seek forgiveness for the legacy of abuse in industrial schools.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin yesterday called for an independent international commission of inquiry to be established into the crimes of the late Brendan Smyth.

Today FM radio presenter Ray D'Arcy has refused to apologise for controversial comments criticising the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Communications Office is to refer a complaint about a popular radio presenter to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland if it fails to get a full apology today for his “grossly offensive” statement about the Catholic Church.

AT its height, the Catholic Church in Ireland owned or occupied more than 10,700 properties across the country and controlled nearly 6,700 religious and educational sites.

A CONFIDENTIAL 1997 Vatican letter did encourage some clerics not to co-operate fully with the state in protecting children, the Government has insisted.

In 2008, Bishop John Magee and his cohort asserted their commitment to child protection. After the release of the Cloyne report, his words seem insincere, writes Claire O’Sullivan

RUAIRÍ QUINN’S plan to transfer some 50% of Catholic primary schools to a different model of patronage will prove as fraught with pitfalls as it may be historic. The minister will have his work cut out if he wants to even partially realise his vision during the lifetime of this Dáil.

CARDINAL Sean Brady did not respond to requests yesterday to comment on either the publication of chapter 19 of the Murphy report or his failure to report paedophile priest Brendan Smyth to the proper authorities when he became aware of his sexual abuse of children in 1975.

THE West Cork pensioner who is calling for a one-day boycott of Mass tomorrow has said anyone who agrees with her sentiments but doesn’t feel comfortable staying away from Mass could wear a green armband to church to show support.

MEMBERS of the clergy are being actively canvassed around the country by a group of priests disillusioned at not having a public voice. They are seeking to set up an association to represent their views.

THE VATICAN has issued a new document making it easier to discipline priests who abuse children, and also made the possession or distribution of child pornography a canonical crime for the first time.

IN an interview published on June 28 with Eamon Gilmore, leader of the Labour party, your political correspondent Shaun Connolly wrote that Mr Gilmore urges “… Pope Benedict XVI to ‘temper’ statements such as claiming that ‘saving’ humanity from homosexuality was as important as protecting the rain forests.

Cardinal Sean Brady tonight said he was confident he had the prayers and support of many people despite three quarters of adults believing he should stand down over child sex abuse scandals in the Irish Church.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was praised today after claiming strong forces in the Catholic Church would prefer scandals about paedophile priests are kept secret.

A FORMER senior RUC officer has claimed the late Cardinal Cahal Daly made a secret deal with a chief constable in the North to arrange the arrest and imprisonment of notorious paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth.

A GENUINE exercise in humility and reflection? Or a cynical attempt to buy some valuable time to allow the clamours for his resignation to die down?

PAEDOPHILE priest Brendan Smyth should have been stopped from the very first time it was known he was abusing children, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said last night.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin tonight refused to demand his superior's resignation over revelations he failed to alert police about one of Ireland's most notorious paedophile priests.

The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, is today facing continuing calls to resign after it emerged he gathered evidence in an internal church probe into serial sex offender Father Brendan Smyth.

Labour's justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte has called for the resignation of Cardinal Seán Brady.

THE prominent caption under a picture of Pope Benedict XVI, published with the article headlined ‘Crunch time for the Church’ (January 21), gave a seriously contradictory impression of the concern and importance which Pope Benedict attaches to the safeguarding of children in the Church.

PRESSURE is mounting on three serving bishops named in the Murphy report to step down from office after Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty announced he had offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI.

A CAMPAIGNER against institutional child sex abuse yesterday declared that he was going on a seven-day fast in protest over inaction against sex abusers and those who concealed it.

A tax-dodging priest was forced to make a grovelling public apology tonight after he launched a foul-mouthed tirade over a €433,000 revenue bill.

THE Catholic Church has refused to comment on reports that a priest is to be tried by a secret clerical court over allegations of child sex abuse in the diocese of Cloyne.

VICTIMS’ groups have expressed shock at how an audit of child protection measures was considered acceptable despite religious dioceses skipping the only section which questioned bishops’ handling of actual abuse cases.

THE father of a woman who alleges she was sexually abused as a teenager by Father B in the diocese of Cloyne has said he is aware of at least 10 more victims of the same priest.

A right-wing Catholic newspaper which said a Lisbon Treaty 'No' vote was a vote for God, should have been banned from churches, politicians claimed today.

A FIXED day for Easter Sunday would create less confusion and disruption for Irish businesses and should be seriously considered.

THE Sexual Health Centre welcomes the reduction of VAT on condoms, removing them from the category of “luxury item”.