Archbishop Stanisław Gadecki has called for “fervent prayer” to end to the migrant crisis at the country’s border with Belarus. Archbishop Gadecki, who is the president of the Polish bishops’ conference, addressed what he described as “dramatic events” on the roughly 250-mile border between Poland and its eastern neighbour. The Polish government, the European Union,…
Pope Benedict met with four recipients of the Ratzinger Prize at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican last Saturday. The meeting lasted one hour and allowed each of the academics to discuss their work with the Pope–emeritus, according to a statement from the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. Before parting ways, the group prayed…
US President Joe Biden sent the Irish rugby team a prayer and asked them to “spread the faith” before their win against New Zealand’s All Blacks over the weekend. Mr Biden sent a letter prior to Saturday’s match wishing them luck and sending them a blessing. He said: “As the Irish blessing says, ‘Wherever you…
Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick have agreed to create a joint group reviewing Catholic priests’ access to crime scenes to administer the last rites. Cardinal Nichols and Ms Dick took the step after reports that police refused access to Catholic priest seeking to anoint Sir David Amess after the lawmaker was…
The Discovery Gospel Choir, Ireland’s most diverse and inclusive choir which features 14 nationalities, performed for the first time in 19 months at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Sean MacDermott Street as part of the Global Village Live concert. The concert, which was part of an event to promote inclusion and integration hosted…
The vicar general for the Diocese of Rome has banned the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass during the Easter Triduum in his implementation of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes. In a letter dated last month, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis said that Mass could continue to be celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal at…
The Letters of John McGahern edited by Frank Shovlin (Faber & Faber, €29.99 / £27.92) Derek Hand John McGahern made very clear his unease with the act of letter writing, declaring to his friend the artist Paddy Swift, “I don’t like writing letters… it is so easy to be anything except honest here: surely the…
Catholic bishops in France announced that they have agreed to “a vast programme of renewal” of governance practices in response to a landmark report on clerical sex abuse. Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French bishops’ conference, said that the bishops had decided to “initiate a path of recognition and reparation opening for the…
Pope Francis offers prayers for Iraqi PM after assassination attempt Pope Francis is praying for Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi after an attempted assassination attack on his home with armed drones. The Pope expressed his “prayerful closeness” in a telegram released by the Vatican on November 9 in which the attack in Baghdad was condemned…
Number of foreign-born clergy in Italy continues to rise New data shows that in 2020, 8.3% of Italy’s diocesan and religious priests were not Italian, while the number of Italian priests who are missionaries in foreign countries has continued to fall. Data from the Central Institute for the Support of Clergy, which is connected with…