The picture above of children foraging for food among waste best sums up the situation in South Sudan, says Fr John Skinnader CSSp, a Spiritan priest from Co. Monaghan who has been based in the country since 2012. “The three tall buildings, just visible at the back, are the only ones standing after the fighting…
Pop superstar Rita Ora has revealed that one of her proudest moments was performing at the Vatican last year, at a ceremony to mark the canonisation of Mother Teresa, a fellow native of Kosovo. “Oh, it was beautiful,” she said. “To hear my voice in that room – incredible reverb, by the way – was…
Staff Reporter It may have been a coincidence or a moment of singular grace, but few could fail to remark on the significance that Portugal’s win in the Eurovision Song Contest at the weekend – the first in that country’s 49 attempts – came on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. As Salvador Sobral…
Men from the Dominican Friary Youth Club carry a statue of Our Lady of Fatima in a procession in Dundalk, Co. Louth on Saturday, in advance of the opening Mass for the Fatima Novena at the friary.
EXCLUSIVE Irish missionaries stand with people in war-torn South Sudan Irish missionaries working in war-torn South Sudan have vowed to stay with the people struggling with starvation and bloodshed, despite knowing they are in danger of being attacked at any moment. South Sudan has become the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian emergency with warnings that many people…
Church leaders in Indonesia have criticised the government for using the country’s drugs problem as an excuse for rejecting the UN recommendation to abolish the death penalty. The recommendation, put forward at the 27th session of the UN Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, which reviewed Indonesia’s human rights situation, was rejected by Law and Human…
President Michael D. Higgins is expected to meet with Pope Francis during a visit to Rome next week. The visit, which is set to take place in the Vatican’s Papal Library, will be the first private meeting between the two heads of state. President Higgins previously met the Pontiff at the papal inauguration ceremony in…
Staff Reporter A young rugby player has revealed the strength he receives from his faith, speaking at a Mass to celebrate sport in his parish in Co. Sligo. Connacht prop and Irish under-20 squad member, Conan O’Donnell, told St Patrick’s in Strandhill that “God is important in my life”. “My faith was nurtured by regular…
I scream for ice cream! During our recent sunny weather you’ve no doubt been treated to one or two giant waffle cones filled with a few scoops of your favourite ice cream. We can’t rely on getting long spells of hot weather in Ireland, even in the summer, so slurping on ice cream in the…
Fr Mathew statue not returning to O’Connell Street A statue of Fr Theobald Mathew, founder of the temperance movement in Ireland, will not be returned to O’Connell Street after the completion of the Luas works in Dublin. The statue, erected in 1893, cannot be accommodated in the new transport layout and discussions are ongoing between…
Mags Gargan
Courtney McGrail
Erin Fox