Courtney McGrailRelief at safe return of kidnapped Mexican cleric The Bishop of the Mexican Diocese of Andres Tuxtla, Veracruz, has expressed his relief and gratitude for the safe return of Fr José Luis Sánchez Ruiz of Catemaco, who was kidnapped on November 11. In a statement following the priest’s release three days after his disappearance, Bishop…
Month: November 2016
Priests at risk: problems and practicalities
Greg DalyGreg Daly attends the AGM of the Association of Catholic Priests
News in Brief
Education proposals ‘attack’ faith schools A new submission to the Department of Education from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) attacks the rights and ethos of faith schools, the Iona Institute has claimed. The institute has especially challenged the commission’s recommendation that faith schools lose their right to accommodate children of their religious…
The perils of waking the dead
David QuinnA 14-year old girl in the UK, dying of cancer, was awarded by court the right to have her body frozen after her death, so-called ‘cryogenic freezing’. The girl, who has since died, wants the possibility of being raised from the dead if science ever allows this, even if that is still hundreds of years…
Senator brands John Halligan the Donald Trump of Irish politics
John Reid Independent Senator Rónán Mullen has branded Minister for Skills John Halligan as the Donald Trump of Irish politics, due to intemperate language he has used toward opponents of his latest controversial push to legalise euthanasia. Mr Halligan is planning to introduce a private members’ bill which, if enacted, would make it legal to…
Deputy McGrath slams Labour Party’s Bill
Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin has been accused of seeking to provide political cover “to silence services or advocates that do not support abortion as a solution to a crisis pregnancy”. Independent TD Mattie McGrath spoke in response to the publication of the Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill brought forward by Mr Howlin…
Through our silence we conspire in a myth
Dear Editor, I was interested to read the letters of Gearoid Duffy’s and James Rourke (IC 3/11/16) on the theme of remembrance/atonement in regard to babies who have died through abortion. A friend and I had a similar idea, and you were kind enough to publish a letter of mine along these lines a few…
US Church one of most diverse bodies
A major study has found the Catholic Church in the US to be one of the most culturally diverse institutions in that country. The three-year study, commissioned by the US bishops’ conference and undertaken by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, was presented to the prelates during their plenary meeting…
Vatican Roundup
Prelates enter war of words over Amoris Laetitia guidelines A war of words between the head of the Vatican’s congregation for the family and America’s Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has erupted over the Amoris Laetitia encyclical. Following the archbishop’s issuing of guidelines in July for his archdiocese re-emphasising Church teaching that divorced-and-remarried Catholics cannot…
How could Catholics support Hillary Clinton?
Dear Editor, I’ve read with the interest the debate on Catholics voting for Hillary Clinton. I simply cannot understand how any Catholic could vote for her. If she had been elected there would have been a continued escalation of abortion worldwide. Not alone is she in favour of abortion up to, and, at,…