Vatican’s financial watchdog highlights ‘increasing trend’ in reports to Promoter of Justice The Vatican’s financial watchdog authority reported last Thursday that it received 89 suspicious activity reports in 2020, 16 of which it forwarded to the Promoter of Justice for possible prosecution. In a 52-page annual report, released July 15, the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority…
ECB moves closer to digital Euro The European Central Bank took the next step towards a “digital euro” last week by launching the project’s exploration phase, but questions remain about potential pitfalls and benefits for euro zone citizens, AFP reported. The move comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has hastened a shift away from cash, and…
South African bishops call for an end to violence and looting Catholic bishops in South Africa have called for an end to violence and looting that has led to the deaths of 72 people. People were trampled to death this week amid looting and rioting in the streets of two South African provinces, Gauteng and…
Dear Editor, Relating to Bishop Tom Deenihan’s comments [IC 01/07/2021] that the Government has directed the Catholic Church to cancel First Holy Communions and Confirmations, I have said it before and I will say it again the Catholic Church’s religious practices and those that attend them are of no interest and therefore not a voting…
The Sunday Gospel Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap. Today we commence five Sundays when our Gospel is taken from Chapter 6 of John which is all about the bread of life. The symbol of John in art is an eagle which sores high. John begins a chapter with something on ground level such as water…
On Sunday, July 11, the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) called on Cubans to continue to pressure Cuban communist authorities to open general elections after thousands of people took the streets of major local cities to protest the unprecedented scarcity of essentials and the death rate produced by Covid-19. After months of food and medicine shortages…
Sr Beatrice (Emma) Brady’s home parish of Drumlane, Co. Cavan, have praised the “courageous young woman” who professed her vows at the Co. Waterford Cistercian convent, July 11. Fr Gerry Comiskey of Drumlane shared the parish’s congratulations and best wishes to Sr Beatrice, saying they were praying for her. Fr Enda Murphy, who works for…
In an abandoned mall on the outskirts of Beirut, an image of St Thérèse of Lisieux hangs in the window of what was once a storefront. This former clothing store now serves as home for Christian refugees who have been hit hard by the inflation caused by Lebanon’s severe economic depression. The living conditions for…
Letter from Rome Carol Zimmermann It turns out there really is no place like home for a prized piece of movie memorabilia that came to The Catholic University of America’s drama department about 50 years ago. Missing for decades, the university’s long-rumoured possession of the blue gingham dress worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in…
More than 4,000 people have signed a petition requesting that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cease blaming the Catholic Church for the country’s residential school system. The residential school system was set up by the Canadian government, beginning in the 1870s, as a means of forcibly assimilating indigenous children and stripping them of familial and…