Please remember to pray for vocations in your prayers so that we may get more young men and women hearing the call into a religious life.

Since Easter this year, a monthly Liturgy in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Rite has started in Belfast. This is response to a request from Ukrainian refugees living throughout Northern Ireland for pastoral support in their own language and Rite.

Fr Taras Khomych the Ukrainian Chaplain in Liverpool travels to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at St Patrick’s, Donegall Street, Belfast on the second Sunday of the month at 1pm.

The main contact for the Ukrainian Catholic community in Ireland is: ugccie@gmail.com

From the Irish Catholic Bishops - as we approach First Communion time…

“13th March 2025

Dear Catholic Bishops

As a growing and worrying number of children are gifted with mobile phones upon receiving their First Holy Communion, I am querying whether you may have a role.

There is no doubt that you are aware of the robust evidence linking an unhealthy use of screens and associated impact on mental health.  Ireland has the highest rate of loneliness in the EU; spiraling obesity in the under 12’s; over a five-year span, the rates of gambling addiction amongst 15-17 Irish males have doubled; the rate of eating disorders in children and adolescents also doubled over a 5-year span;  Mental ill-health; Distracted driving; Sleep. Suicide is the number one cause of death among young males.

I could go on.  I won't.

Something needs to be done.

Not only are mobile phones ubiquitous, but sadly the age at which children receive a mobile phone is decreasing.  

Since working in this area for the past 5 years, I have noticed the role that Holy Sacraments play.  Specifically, the gifting of a device upon receipt of a Sacrament. Parents and Guardians will view it as a fait accompli.

Is there any possibility that an information/guidance leaflet could be distributed from the Catholic Bishops simply highlighting the dangers associated with giving a child such a device at First Holy Communion.

I am aware that the Church cannot advise, however, in the past various information circulars have been disseminated regarding a myriad of religious events - Lent, Advent, Funerals and other religious sacraments – Marriage.

Collectively, we need to take a stance on this very grave issue.

Working for a charity delivering online safety training in schools, I witness at first hand the  detrimental effects. Children as young as 8 should not be feeling "not good enough".

Nobody wants to be manipulated.  Yet that is exactly what these tech companies are doing to their users.  Tech companies use the power of persuasive design to capture and hold user’s attention and create habitual behaviours.

They employ behavioural psychologists for the specific purpose of maximising engagement The more we scroll and touch our screens, the more they make. They consume our time and conscious attention.

We live in an era of constant agitation of our vulnerabilities and desires (you need this).  

The core problem is the business model. Western world’s obsession with accumulating wealth.

Children in particular are easy prey.  Self-regulation means that children as young as 7 and 8 can fake a date of birth to set up an account on social media platforms with an age limit of at least 13.  The digital age of consent in Ireland is actually 16.

Children do not need to be laying their heads on their pillows at night time reeling from an image they saw.  Frightened, upset, sad or thinking that they are not good enough.  Not sexy enough. Not pretty enough.  Not anything enough.  

Children need protection.  Children want protection.

The reality of self-regulation for children means that they are left to navigate platforms and sites which were specifically designed to hold their attention for commercial benefit. The cost of this is their well being.

Meanwhile, tech companies push responsibilities onto parents and users.  They soothe their conscience by presenting users with a gossamer like web of security advances such as parental controls and user agency with usage statistics and screen time limits.  All this does is simply shift accountability from corporates to an overwhelmed parent. Or worse, to an innocent, fragile and overwhelmed child.

As a nation with sporting, business, arts and cultural abilities that are internationally renowned and revered, I would urge the Catholic Church to use your power to act immediately to halt the unnatural, cruel, and simply wrong landscape we are sowing in which a child quite clearly will never thrive.

“The system is failing…social networks – they are manmade.  If they are not serving humanity, they can and should be changed.”

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web

Heartfelt thanks for taking the time to read my letter and I look forward, with Hope, to receiving your view(s) regarding this matter.”

From a letter written by Ann Fitzpatrick. Something to think about…