Dáil committee told commercial surrogacy led to ‘exploitation’ The Department of Justice has warned that commercial surrogacy in other countries has resulted in “exploitation”, and that children are being given to parents with whom they have no genetic link. An Oireachtas committee on international surrogacy was told that “bad actors” have exploited surrogate mothers, children…
Emmanuel Macron, who is likely to remain President of France, was educated mainly by the Jesuits, at the Lycée la Providence in Amiens, and he chose to be baptised a Catholic at the age of 12. And according to a poll carried out by Ifop, 28% of French Catholics voted for him in the first…
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said it appeared Ukraine could keep Pope Francis safe if he made a wartime trip to Kyiv, but the Pope’s safety was not the Vatican’s only concern. During his trip to Malta April 2-3, Pope Francis had told reporters that a proposal for him to visit Kyiv…
Staff reporter Vatican officials are reportedly discussing extending Pope Francis’ trip to Lebanon in June so he can fly to Jerusalem to meet Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their first meeting in 2016 was the first between a Pope and a leader of the Russian Church since the Great Schism…
The View It is the evening of Palm Sunday as I write this – just a few hours ago we came home from Armagh where the annual Mass for ‘the disappeared’ was celebrated by Archbishop Eamon Martin. It was a very poignant and sad occasion as we gave thanks for the recovery of the bodies of…
The Legionaries of Christ received four new allegations of sexual abuse against members of the congregation between March 2021 and March 2022, and new allegations also have been made against priests already undergoing canonical procedures after being named in previous reports. The Legionaries’ 2021 “Annual Report: Truth, Justice and Healing” was released April 6 with…
Aontú is committed to being a “voice for the voiceless” including Catholic and Irish language schools, East Derry candidate Gemma Brolly said. Ms Brolly called the emphasis on integrated education “a distraction” from the education crisis. “I feel that people don’t realise the emergency that our education system is in,” Ms Brolly, who is also…
Almsgiving is about more than the material help we offer; it has an effect on our souls, writes Jason Osborne Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three pillars upon which a successful Lent stands. Many Catholics know of the spiritual benefits of prayer and fasting, but view almsgiving as a purely material practice that one…
It is time to step up and embrace the call to prophetic witness, writes David Quinn A strange thing has happened since the abortion referendum of 2018, namely the Church in Ireland has almost completely stopped talking about the issue. Church leaders rarely preach about marriage and the family either, or more accurately, about why…
Parental divorce has a larger impact on youth educational attainment than parental death according to a new study published by Demographic research. The study, based on data from 17 countries across Europe, shows that the negative effect of parental divorce on educational attainment seems to be stronger for children of higher-educated parents. The study suggests…
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn