An Irish missionary nun is to receive a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her lifetime of work in Sierra Leone and her courageous efforts in co-ordinating a response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak there. Sr Mary Sweeney, a Sister of St Joseph of Cluny and a native of Co. Donegal, has worked for over 40…

Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick has called for a collective societal response in tackling addiction in Ireland. As he celebrated Mass to mark 50 years of the work of the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre in Bruree, Bishop Leahy said: “We owe it to one another in Ireland, as a collective work of mercy on the…

Paul Keenan and Susan Gately The decision of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) to campaign for abortion in the event of a referendum is a culmination of 15 years of activism by pro-abortion elements, a survey of recent annual meetings reveals. As far back as 2001, when the Fianna Fáil-led government proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn…

Archaeologists in Israel believe they have uncovered the site of the biblical battle between David and Goliath. According to experts who have led excavations for the past seven years at a site today known as Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Elah Valley, the Old Testament city of Shaaraim has been found. The city is mentioned in…

The sole Irish member of the Vatican commission responsible for child protection has said the commission’s involvement in the training of new bishops is “a big step forward”, and praised increased child protection awareness in the developing world. Marie Collins, an abuse survivor who was first named to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of…

All-Ireland Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin prays at the Wailing Wall during a pilgrimage by 175 Irish people to the Holy Land. Photo: Pádraig Ó Flannabhra