Month: April 2025

Assaults on priests increase in Poland

A new study by Poland’s Church Statistics Institute reveals that Catholic clergy increasingly face aggression. Of 614 priests surveyed, half reported experiencing hostility in the past year. Common forms included mockery, threats, and online abuse, with 4% facing physical attacks. Nearly 20% noted attacks on churches or religious sites, and 15% reported disruptions during services.…

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Young people find language for their faith

Since 2014, the Order of the Knights of St Columbanus has organized a public speaking competition titled, Young People Find Language for Their Faith. This year’s All-Ireland Final took place at the Carlton Hotel near Dublin Airport, with teams from six schools across the island participating. Each school was represented by a team of three…

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Fascinating historical detective work

Dear Editor, Felix M. Larkin’s review of Edward Burke’s Ghosts of a Family, on who perpetrated the McMahon killings in Belfast in March 1922, points to a fascinating piece of historical detective work. It made me want to read the book. A caveat, however. Larkin’s characterising systemic attacks on northern nationalist communities, by forces of the…

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The trial of temptation and the good fight

Everyone loves a good ‘battle-between-good-and-evil’ – luckily, it’s not just for the movies, it’s for all of us! Like Solzhenitsyn said, the battle line between good and evil runs through every human heart. Our enemy is the devil and his demons; our comrades, the angels and saints; our captain, the Lord. Exciting stuff! But most…

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Aid in Myanmar remains difficult – children in particular are suffering

In parts of the devastated earthquake regions of Myanmar, ongoing attacks by the military are hampering the deployment of aid workers. The military government rejects a temporary ceasefire in the civil war country. According to local media (Wednesday), junta leader Min Aung Hlaing emphasised that the “necessary defence operations” would continue. Myanmar’s democratic underground government…

Suffer little children

Housing crisis is driving youth leaving care to drugs and prison   Children leaving State care face spiralling into crime and addiction due to an inability to find housing, with the situation getting “definitely worse” according to campaigners. The Peter McVerry Trust is supporting dozens of young adults who turn 18 and leave State care…