A decision is likely early next year on an appeal by a Cork priest into a secret Church court’s decision to defrock him for the serial sexual abuse of minors and teenagers.

The 33-year-old man who broke into the Tralee home of Archbishop Dermot Clifford three years ago, escaped being sent back to prison as it seemed he has mended his ways, the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee was told yesterday.

A Trinity graduate has turned his back on a career in pharmacy to serve God.

A bequest of almost €1m from an anonymous donor was not enough to prevent aid agency Trócaire sliding into the red last year.

The country’s newest Catholic bishop, who has chosen “love one another” as his motto, said it was by no means certain the good times would soon return and urged more sharing with the needy.

People clinging to Catholic beliefs by their fingernails have been told to look to Bono for hope.

Bishop John Magee will not attend the ordination of his successor at Cobh Cathedral this weekend “in case he becomes a distraction”, according to the diocese of Cloyne.

A judgment is expected in the coming weeks on whether a Cork priest is to be defrocked by a secret ecclesiastical court because of sex abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.

The Pope’s representative in Ireland, Charles Brown, will be the principal ordaining bishop later this month at the ordination of Canon William Crean as bishop of Cloyne.

The heartbroken father of a young woman who died following a road traffic collision told her requiem Mass he was “very proud” of his daughter who gave life to five people through organ donation.

New laws to reform a limited ban on abortion will create a culture of life and not one of death, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

The Junior Minister Kathleen Lynch says the four Archbishops of the Catholic Church are entitled to their opinions on abortion.

The four Catholic Archbishops of Ireland have said the Government's decision to legislate for abortion when the life of a woman is at risk, will pave the way for the direct and intentional killing of unborn children.

The four Catholic Archbishops of Ireland have condemned the government's decision to legislate for abortion - saying it will pave the way for the direct and intentional killing of unborn children.

A priest has sparked controversy after he arranged for a woman to give a graphic account of her abortion at a children’s Mass and outline how she believed her special needs child was a punishment from God.

Today’s report that a priest in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, allowed a woman to stand up in church last Sunday and recount her experience of having an abortion is certain to reawaken divisions in advance of expected government legislation on abortion.

The country’s newest priest plans to reach out to the Facebook generation and encourage them back to the Church.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland is ignoring growing calls for his resignation following failure to contact parents, gardaí, or child protection services after he was warned that five children were being abused by the notorious paedophile, Fr Brendan Smyth.

Ireland's most senior cleric Cardinal Sean Brady said today his role in a 1975 investigation into paedophile Brendan Smyth had been exaggerated.

The Vatican's chief investigator has today insisted that Ireland's most senior cleric has no case to answer regarding renewed allegations of mishandling of allegations against the paedophile Brendan Smyth.

A Tipperary priest who had been asked to step aside from his duties two years ago while a complaint against him was investigated, is back on the altar this evening.

Letters are to be sent to abuse victims in the Diocese of Cloyne in the coming weeks asking if they would like to participate in a secret church trial that will hear evidence against a North Cork priest accused of 11 counts of abuse.

There’s quiet diplomacy and megaphone diplomacy.

Victims of Father Ronat, the Cloyne priest who is to go before a canonical tribunal that can recommend he be defrocked, have reminded him they have letters of apology from the diocese for the abuse they suffered.

Gardaí have recovered priceless relics that were stolen from Holy Cross Abbey in County Tipperary last October.

The Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dermot Clifford, has confirmed that he has written to priests in his diocese asking them to contribute to costs associated with child protection.

VICTIMS of clerical abuse in Cloyne have said they will co-operate with the Church’s secret canonical tribunal into the actions of Fr Ronat, a North Cork priest who was the subject of 11 complaints of abuse in the Cloyne report.

VICTIMS of Fr Ronat, the priest at the centre of the latest Cloyne report, have said that they have “little interest” in meeting Bishop John Magee and former child protection delegate, Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan — unless the media is present.

Archbishop Dermot Clifford said he was profoundly sorry for the failings in Cloyne.

The Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Cloyne has expressed his profound sorrow on the publication of the final chapter of the Cloyne Report.

THE Vatican is believed to be meeting resistance from Irish archbishops to its plans to cut the number of dioceses by up to a half — meaning the country would need fewer bishops.

THIEVES are now targeting churches and grottos.

TWO weeks ago, their senior hurlers returned home disconsolate after giving up their All-Ireland title, but last night Tipperary GAA supporters were en fete again as they welcomed their young footballing heroes home to the GAA’s birthplace.

THE child protection tsar in Cloyne wrote to clerical abuse victims to tell them he had done everything he could to help them obtain justice — even though the Cloyne report revealed the opposite to be true.

THE administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne has issued what amounts to a gagging order on its former child protection officer, Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan, as it emerged a local priest is receiving text messages from women who claim he molested them.

Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan - who was responsible for child protection in the diocese of Cloyne - has admitted that he should have resigned as a child protection delegate.

VICTIMS of clerical sex abuse have dismissed as “empty” and “insincere” expressions of shame and regret by the former bishop of Cloyne Dr John Magee for the abuse that took place under his watch.

CATHOLIC priests have downplayed the possibility of parish hall meetings to discuss the fallout from the Cloyne Report into clerical child sex abuse, claiming it is simply a proposal.

PRIESTS in the Diocese of Cloyne have yet officially to discuss reaction to the Cloyne Report, two months after it was published.

A PICTURE of Bishop John Magee has been removed from a church in Co Cork as parishioners there found it upsetting in the wake of the Cloyne report.

A PRIEST from the Diocese of Cloyne has called on diocesan officials to provide details of the 1999 unfair dismissal case, which was withdrawn after Bishop John Magee reportedly paid the former employee £40,000 and demanded a confidentiality clause.

Ireland has always punched above its weight in diplomatic terms.

AT Mass on Sunday morning we had a heartfelt apology from our PP.

A NEWLY ordained priest is hoping his life experience as a husband, father and grandfather will give him a greater understanding of his parishioners.