More than 40 young people from the Neocatechumenal Way from the Diocese of Cork and Ross went on pilgrimage from Cork to Ardmore and then on to Mount Melleray to celebrate the opening of St Declan’s Way. Since 2013 hundreds of young people from the Neocatechumenal Way in Ireland have been following the lives and…
The Biden administration September 9 sued Texas over its new law prohibiting most abortions after the detection of a foetal heartbeat. In a complaint filed in a federal district court in West Texas, the Justice Department said the state acted “in open defiance of the Constitution” in restricting “most pre-viability abortions.” “The Act is clearly…
Pope Francis is to receive President Michael D. Higgins in private audience at the Vatican tomorrow (Friday). As part of his visit to the Vatican, Mr Higgins will also meet with Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. A communique from Áras an Uachtaráin said that the president will discuss with Pope Francis issues such as…
Mary McAleese’s remedy for greater lay involvement is undermined by the legalism with which she wants to save the synod process writes Prof. Massimo Faggioli It is always wise to pay attention to the statements that former president Mary McAleese makes on the Catholic Church. They always reveal something on this moment in the life…
The bishops’ conference of Belarus accused state media of stoking anti-Catholic feeling, after an official newspaper equated priests with Nazis in a front-page cartoon. “This publication inflicts moral damage on Christians of all denominations – it deliberately, maliciously distorts the truth,” the conference said September 7. “A caricature in which the cross turns into a…
The Church in Ireland’s development agency Trócaire has called on the Government to uphold Ireland’s reputation as a leader in international development by increasing the amount committed in the forthcoming budget. The charity made the call as a global report warned that 142 million people will face severe food shortages in 2021. Trócaire is also…
Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass, Revised New Edition by Nicola Gordon Bowe, David Caron and others (Irish Academic Press, €35.00/£29.99) Patrick Claffey It is 30 years since the original publication of this handsome work, the definitive guide to Irish stained glass from 1900 to the present day. The revision, the work of several hands, is to…
A new bishop of Wuhan, China, was ordained September 8 under the terms of the Vatican-China agreement, a Vatican spokesman has confirmed. Bishop Francis Cui Qingqi, 57, is the sixth bishop to be consecrated in China since the Holy See signed a provisional agreement with the Chinese government in September 2018. According to Vatican spokesman…
Bishop John Shelby Spong, a best-selling author and Episcopal bishop known for his liberal theology has died. He was 90. He made headlines as the bishop of the Diocese of Newark, where he served for more than two decades when in 1989 he ordained the first openly gay minister. He was part of a movement…
A Catholic bishops’ commission said that it is a “pity” that the “key position” of EU religious freedom envoy is now vacant. The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) congratulated the outgoing envoy Christos Stylianides September 8 on his next role as head of Greece’s new climate crisis ministry. But the…