An African cardinal widely seen as a conservative critic of Pope Francis, and styled by some as possible candidate for the papacy himself, has warned of what he described as a “practical atheism” taking hold within the Catholic Church. Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea also repeated his criticism of Fiducia Supplicans, the recent Vatican document…
Letter from Rome Matthew Santucci In the 2024 edition of the “Annuario Pontificio”, or Pontifical Yearbook, released last week, Pope Francis reinstated the ancient, honorary pontifical title of “Patriarch of the West”, reversing Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 decision to suspend the title. This honorific designation has reappeared among the list of “historical titles” used to…
Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher called the stabbing of Orthodox Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and Fr Isaac Royel “shocking and has caused distress to many in the community”. A 16-year-old boy stabbed and injured the two men at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney on Monday night. The attacker was arrested on Tuesday, and…
Vanitha Nadaraj Thousands in Malaysia have paid tributes to an Irish missionary nun who pioneered girls’ education in her adopted country for decades. Sr Enda Ryan died on April 7 at the age of 96, according to her religious congregation, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM). FMM is an international Catholic religious order founded in…
Brazil’s bishops celebrated a new resolution of the Federal Medical Council (CFM) determining that doctors cannot induce cardiac arrest on an unborn child with more than 22 weeks of pregnancy. The norm, however, is being challenged by prosecutors and legislators and may not last too long. On March 21, CFM published the resolution 2378/2024, which…
Deputy Mattie McGrath, leader of the Dáil’s Rural Independent Group, has criticized the government for deliberately blocking a Dáil debate on the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, labeling the action as a “scandalous attempt to silence debate” on a critical issue. “It is a scandal that the government, with the facilitated support of ‘so-called’ independent TDs, have…
The virtue of justice is fundamental for peaceful coexistence, writes Pope Francis Here we are at the second of the cardinal virtues: today we will talk about justice. It is the quintessential social virtue. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as “the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will…
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe “We are an Easter people and ‘alleluia’ is our song.” We love to quote St Augustine when we talk about what the church of Jesus Christ is. And honestly, there may be no better description. But I think a lot of us, somewhere along the line, have lost hope that…
Dear Editor, I was heartened by Bishop Kevin Doran’s recent remarks in the article about the changing cultural landscape and its impact on our Faith [The Irish Catholic – April 4, 2024]. His call to focus on the fundamentals of our beliefs and the support offered by the Church is more important than ever as…
A proclamation from the nation’s second Catholic president on a transgender-themed occasion is causing consternation among some faithful, as the date coincides this year with Easter – and as the annual White House Easter egg art contest bans, among other things, religious symbolism. On March 29, President Joe Biden issued his annual message for the…