Pope In Ireland

Photos from Pope Francis’ trip to Ireland

Church Is a Family United in Prayer and Solidarity

We are told that the Church is a family and that we, though many, are all part of one body, the Church. We, as Catholics, participate in a larger family – a global one – one which we are reminded of each and every time we attend Mass.

A Visible Center of Unity

This past week, Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, made his journey to the World Meetings of Families, sponsored by the Vatican dicastery responsible for ministry to families, laity and life, headed by Cardinal Kevin Farrell. The Diocese of Brooklyn was blessed by a representation of priests and parishioners.

Bonds of Family Unite The Church

It would be a shame if last week’s papal trip to Ireland was judged simply as a referendum as to how the Church is handling the sex abuse crisis. While Pope Francis went to Ireland to affirm the World Meeting of Families, most of the headlines of the week surrounded the recent grand jury report about clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania and Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals as well as the history of abuse in Ireland.

Pope Meets Survivors of Abuse in Ireland

Pope Francis spent 90 minutes meeting privately with eight survivors of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy or in Catholic-run institutions.

Families Called to Share Joy, Love, Life

In a stadium of Catholic families from around the world, Pope Francis told the laypeople they are the vast majority of Church members and that, without them, the Church would be cold, a collection of statues.

After First Day, Pope in Ireland Gets ‘Incomplete’ on Abuse Crisis

To some extent, it’s undoubtedly unfair to reduce Pope Francis’s visit to Ireland this weekend entirely to a referendum on his handling of the Church’s clerical sexual abuse scandals. The vastly changed social landscape compared to the last time a pope was here almost 40 years ago was visible, among other things, from the relatively light crowds that packed city streets as Pope Francis moved through Dublin.