“I get on my knees and pray right at the side of the bed, no matter where I am.”

Ten years after the publication of the devastating Ferns Report into clerical abuse, child safeguarding in the Diocese of Ferns continues to be an “evolving” process.  The Ferns Inquiry began in 2002 and lasted three and a half years, being published on October 25, 2005 with Ferns being described in the press as “the most…

Bishop Donal McKeown chats to young people who were among 150 delegates from parishes, schools and youth groups who attended the Diocesan Youth Ministry Conference in Thornhill College, Derry at the weekend, to plan the way forward for developing faith opportunities for young people at parish level. Photo: Stephen Latimer

Irish missionaries working in Pakistan have said they fear the death toll will significantly rise in the country following a devastating earthquake. The 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous area on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday. “Snows have come early this year so logistically it will be a very difficult rescue and…

Pope Francis arrives to lead an audience with Roma, Sinti and members of the Travelling community at the Vatican on Monday. The Pontiff appeared to reference the recent tragedy at a halting site in Dublin in which ten people lost their lives when he said: “we do not want to witness any more family tragedies…

The master of the Rotunda Hospital has criticised the Government’s controversial abortion law. Dr Sam Coulter-Smith claimed the absence of a gestational age limit in the State’s current abortion legislation creates a challenge for doctors. The obstetrician also remarked that he overestimated the number of abortions that would occur on the suicide ground and that…

Cleric imprisoned by communists dies Slovak Cardinal Jan Chryzostom Korec, the retired bishop of Nitra who was secretly ordained a priest and bishop and spent more than a dozen years in a communist prison, died at the weekend at the age of 91. In a condolence message to the president of the Slovakian bishops’ conference, Pope Francis said Cardinal…

Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated a Mass to wind up an unprecedented, and wildly tumultuous, series of two summits of Catholic bishops. They were convened to debate matters related to the family, including the front lines in today’s wars of culture, such as homosexuality, divorce, and the meaning of marriage. On Saturday, the Vatican released…