In situations of extreme poverty, war or civil tensions, 22 Catholic church workers were murdered in 2021, according to Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency. The 13 priests, one religious brother, two religious sisters and six laypeople gave witness to their faith “in impoverished, degraded social contexts, where violence is the rule of life, the…
Since Christmas, the Missionaries of Charity have been strictly rationing the food and daily use items for their regular 600 beneficiaries at their motherhouse and Shishu Bhavan, a children’s orphanage. On January 2, the breakfast of tea, bread, and eggs was cut short by an hour. “As long as you did it to one of…
The stamps, and a commemorative First Day Cover (FDC) envelope, were designed by leading designer Ger Garland. The first features the signatures of the Irish Treaty delegates – Arthur Griffith (leader), Michael Collins, Robert Barton, Éamon Duggan and George Gavan Duffy, and the British representatives – David Lloyd George (Prime Minister), Austen Chamberlain, Lord Birkenhead…
Renowned sports broadcaster Marty Morrissey has recently spoken of how his belief in the afterlife has increased since the death of his mother, Peggy, in a car accident last December. Speaking to comedian Tommy Tiernan on his RTE Radio One show, ‘The Marty Morrissey Show’ on Monday, Mr Morrissey expressed how in spite of the…
Even in our weak and vulnerable human nature, we have a great capacity to love which can be released through the Holy Spirit, writes Martin McGee OSB Blessed Pierre Claverie OP was born in Algeria in 1938 in a lower middle-class district of Algiers. Pierre, the elder of two children, experienced a very loving and…
Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul I on September 4, at the Vatican, according to Stefania Falasca, a journalist and vice postulator of the late Pope’s sainthood cause. Last autumn, Pope Francis had signed a decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul I, clearing the way for his beatification.…
Priest who led child protection charged in abuse case A retired priest of the US Diocese of Arlington, who for seven years oversaw the diocese’s programme on protecting minors from clerical sexual abuse, was indicted shortly before Christmas on two counts of sexually abusing a minor. A trial is scheduled next October for Fr Terry…
Jenny and Bill Rush and other parishioners at Sts Peter and Paul Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, were nearly finished praying the rosary after an early morning Mass on New Year’s Day when an isolated tornado shook the church, much to their surprise. As the storm roared, the group prayed all the louder, Jenny told Catholic…
There is no guarantee the proposed synod will rekindle the Church’s missionary zeal, writes Kingsley Jones The Covid-19 pandemic has been a crisis for Catholics in more ways than one. Not only have we had to deal with a medical emergency, but we’ve also been ambushed by the spirit of our times. While our right…
We cannot celebrate the Eucharist without trying to become ourselves gifts and learning to receive the other as a gift too, writes Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP The questions that Blessed Pierre Claverie faced then, we face today: How to live with strangers? How to open our minds and hearts to people with beliefs which are…