Ben Burke and son Ben Jr from Foxford, Co. Mayo with their pet sheep Polly and hen Penny at the annual blessing of the pets for the feast of St francis of Assisi which took place over the weekend at Knock Marian shrine. Photo: Gerard Smyth

The time for cautious diplomacy in dealing with the Ukrainian crisis is over, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has said. Expressing disappointment in the Vatican’s low-key approach to the issue, Kiev-Halych’s Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said “The fact that 70 percent of Ukrainian army regulars fighting against separatists and Russian soldiers have Russian as…

Congo's Catholic bishops have criticised Western governments for failing to stop the abuse of Africa’s natural resources. “Awareness by the major polluting countries comes nowhere near to any concrete commitment, or to the efforts required in countries whose forests provide the lungs for conserving the world's bio-diversity,” the bishops’ commission on natural resources said in…

Pope calls for Catholics to face challenges of migration The Pope’s message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated on January 17 in most countries has been published by the Vatican. Presenting the message, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and…

Puerto Rico’s archbishop tackles debt Puerto Rico’s Archbishop Robert Gonzales Nieves of San Juan, accompanied by the country’s Bible Society president Revd Heriberto Martinez Rivera, has met with congressional leaders and the White House in order to work towards a resolution to the US territory’s debt crisis.  “We want to create more awareness of the urgency of the situation…

Jordan’s Prince Hassan has claimed that the Middle East is the home of Christianity, which has contributed greatly to Arab culture and Arab-Islamic civilization. Speaking at a book launch in the Israeli city of Acre, he said the presence of Christians in the Middle East must be guaranteed “human protection”. Abu Saada, Greek-Melkite parish priest…

An archbishop in the Central African Republic has vowed to persist in interfaith peace efforts, after at least 42 people were killed and 27,000 forced to flee during five days of violence between Christian and Muslim groups in the capital Bangui. The city’s Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga, president of the national bishops’ conference, said he will…

If Syrian president Bashar al-Assad were removed from power now, Syria would become like Libya, a Syrian bishop has warned. Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Hasakeh-Nisibi, said “the Syrians will decide if and when Assad has to go away, and not the Daesh [the so-called Islamic State] or the West,” continuing “and…