Three owners of a British Catholic newspaper are in a disagreement with the Church over claims the paper owes about £280,000 (€320,000) in unpaid rent and restoration fees, according to reports. The Catholic Herald has been based at the back of a church based in London. According to the Financial Times its lease with St…
Dear Editor, I refer to the letter entitled ‘Concern about the future of Accord’ (IC 27/02/2020), which discusses “the decline in the amount of people availing of its marriage and counselling services”. We live in an age where the TV, cinema, and the printed/social media at large frequently portray marriage as a form of mere…
A prominent Pakistani Christian political leader has written a letter to Punjab authorities seeking permission to construct a church and baptism pool for minority inmates in Lahore central prison. In his letter, Massiha Millat Party chairman Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra asked the minority affairs minister to give his attention to the number of non-Muslim prisoners at…
Fr Billy Swan This week marks the seventh anniversary of the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis on March 13, 2013. Though a work of fiction, the recent success of the film The Two Popes has revived public interest in the context of Francis’ election, his cultural background in South America and the…
Eoin Wrenn My recent visit to Ethiopia reinforced just how vulnerable some countries in Africa are to climate change but also gave me hope that communities can, and indeed are, adapting to the challenges posed by this crisis. I was privileged to spend a few days close to the border of Eritrea where Trócaire has…
The chaplain of University College Dublin (UCD) has said action needs to be taken as the Students Union (SU) protest a rent hike in campus accommodation. Fr Leon Ó Giolláin SJ said on the cost of accommodation for students: “I’ve met that myself directly, just students not being able to find accommodation close enough to…
A former Ireland national soccer team physio says meeting the Pope was his proudest memory from Irish football’s most successful period in a new documentary this week. Mick Byrne met Pope John Paul II in the Vatican while the Irish squad were competing at Italia ’90 prior to their match against hosts Italy the next…
No decision yet on postponing Confirmations Chai Brady, Róise McGagh and Aron Hegarty Irish bishops say they are poised to take radical steps to stem coronavirus infection, including, if necessary, postponing Confirmation ceremonies and other gatherings, The Irish Catholic has learned. Dioceses around Ireland have already taken on board guidelines issued by health…
A Church academic has said historians are not expecting a ‘smoking gun’ from the Pope Pius XII ‘secret’ archives. The archives were opened to scholars on Monday who will likely take time to examine the documents. Pius XII has been accused a number of times of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust in 1963…
All politicians should be pro-family and look after the example set by Hungary’s family policies, according to Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan. The bishop of Waterford and Lismore said: “We see the promotion of the rights of the individual over family (in Ireland). In Hungary, in contrast, you are promoting the priority and importance of families.” The…
Chai Brady