A prominent Jesuit scholar and leading commentator on modern Irish Catholicism has died after being ill for some months. Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ died on Friday, November 6, in St Vincent’s Private Hospital, after the Anointing of the Sick and prayers with three Jesuit friends. He had been suffering from cancer since January. Born…

Primate of All-Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin returned to his native Derry to celebrate the vigil Mass for the Feastday of All the Saints of Ireland on November 6. Here Dr Martin is greeted by students from St Mary’s College at the Mass at St Eugene’s Cathedral.Photo: Stephen Latimer

The Pro Life Campaign has welcomed the result of a University College Cork debate where a motion on the Students’ Union taking a position on abortion was defeated by 36 votes to 31. PLC Deputy Chairperson Cora Sherlock, who spoke at the Philosophical Society-hosted debate, called the result “a positive step forward”, saying, “When people…

Bishop Jozef De Kesel of Bruges has been named by Pope Francis to succeed Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and the effective leader of Belgium’s Catholic Church. Ordained in 1972, Dr De Kesel is regarded as a protégée of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who resigned in 2010 shortly before it emerged that he had…

Ireland is to host three climate rallies on the eve of the upcoming UN Climate Summit in Paris. The rallies are scheduled to begin at 2pm on November 29, the day before the Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny addresses the summit. Organised by such organisations as Trócaire, Friends of the Earth, and Stop Climate Chaos, the…

A delegation of 15 bishops, eight support staff and diocesan personnel have taken part in an information visit to the European Commission and to the European Parliament in Brussels. The group met with First Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Frans Timmermans, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mr Phil Hogan as well as…

Doubts have been raised over Pope Francis’ planned trip to the war-torn Central African Republic later this month. Speaking at Sunday’s Angelus, the Pontiff called for the country’s warring opponents to “put an end to this cycle of violence”, and declared that he “hopes” to visit the beleaguered country.  Hitherto a papal visit over November…

Nicaraguan Church officials are concerned about the potential effects of a canal planned to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans across the Central American country.  The contract to build and operate the 278km canal was awarded in June 2013 to a newly created Chinese-Nicaraguan consortium headed by Chinese businessman Wang Jing who has apparently brought…