Dear Editor, thank you for your courageous words in your timely ‘Editor’s Comment’ on the controversy provoked by the president’s refusal to attend the ecumenical service in Armagh [The Irish Catholic, September 23, 2021]. The commemoration (not celebration) of partition was always going to be something that had to be handled sensitively – a fact…
Minority pupils more likely to have negative school experience Pupils from Muslim minority backgrounds are more likely to have a negative relationship with their teacher, new research from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) shows. The study, lasting three years and involving more than 3,000 students, showed that 94.5% of majority students experienced positive or moderately positive…
St Januarius’ blood liquefies for the second time in 2021 The blood of St Januarius, patron of the Italian city of Naples, liquefied for the second time this year. The miraculous event took place in the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary during morning Mass on September 19, the saint’s feast day. Before the…
Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops, and a leading Presbyterian clergyman, have urged the Irish Government to offer complete and immediate redress to the thousands of people whose homes have been affected by the mica/pyrite crisis. Numerous family homes have been seriously damaged because defective building blocks were used in their construction. Their calls…
The debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion must be handled in a pastoral way, not by public condemnations that seek to “excommunicate” Catholics who are not in line with Church teaching, Pope Francis said. During his return flight from Bratislava, Slovakia, September 15, the Pope said that while there is no question…
A court in Finland has announced the date of a hearing to determine whether a former government minister should be jailed after tweeting a Bible verse. The Helsinki District Court said that the case involving Päivi Räsänen, a physician and mother of five, will be heard on January 24, 2022. According to ADF International, a…
The Archbishop of Dublin appealed to people to help ensure the social support agency can maintain all services in the coming months. Archbishop Dermot Farrell said Crosscare’s services are needed “now more than ever”, as the diocese held its annual collection for the agency last weekend. “As families face greater uncertainty and insecurity intensified by…
Pope Francis thanked God “that Ireland has such a wise man as its Head [of State]”, during the latest encounter between the Pontiff and the president. President Higgins met the Pontiff before meeting Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was accompanied by Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher. A Vatican statement disclosed that…
A Nigerian Catholic priest kidnapped at his parish residence September 13 has been freed. The priest’s liberation was announced on September 15 by Fr Emmanuel Uchechukwu, chancellor of Kafanchan diocese, in northern Nigeria, reported ACI Africa. “With hearts filled with joy, we raise our voices in a symphony of praises as we announce the return of our…
The Innocence of Pontius Pilate. How the Roman trial of Jesus shaped history by David Lloyd Dusenbury (Hurst and Company, £25.00/€30.00) Frank Litton Stories we are told can win or lose wars. The Taliban’s story — David vs Goliath in a ‘holy’ war — proved more telling than the United States’ and its allies’ story of a nation…