The Church in Tanzania is keeping its doors open while the rest of world closes places of worship to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Thousands of people are turning up for public Masses after a presidential directive stated churches and mosques could remain open so people could seek refuge, according to Church sources. Other…
Letter from Rome Christopher White On the same day that Pope Francis was elected in 2013, the head of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was meeting with colleagues discussing how to “develop a wholeness in our ecumenical work” when he offered the example of Francis of Assisi. “He [Francis of Assisi] is a…
Ruadhan Jones A number of religious leaders, including Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, held a conference call with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to discuss the Covid-19 emergency on the Wednesday of Holy Week. Mr Varadkar sought their views into how we can care for our communities and our most vulnerable at this time. He thanked…
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his 93rd birthday on April 16, which comes three days prior to the 15th anniversary of when he started his Papacy. Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger, served as head of the Church and sovereign of the Vatican from April 19, 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II, until his resignation…
A cloister of nuns in Bangladesh is asking God to provide consolation to the sick, doctors, nurses, volunteers and all those fighting the coronavirus every hour of the day. The Poor Clares are engaged in a continuous prayer, 24 hours a day, for the world to overcome the Covid-19 crisis, according to Mother Mary Rose,…
Eduardo Campos Lima Catholic leaders in Brazil have criticised the response of the country’s President Jair Bolsonaro to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, saying he has not implemented common measures such as social distancing. The Church in Brazil has defended the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations, an attitude that many of Bolsonaro’s backers see as…
Pope sets up commission to study women deacons A new commission which will look into the possibility of having women deacons in the Church was instituted by Pope Francis last week. The Holy See released an announcement in their daily noon bulletin which contained the information that the Pope had decided to create a new…
Chinese Catholics provide food to Covid-19 hit Flippinos More than €75,000 was collected by Catholics in China and donated to the Philippines to buy rice and other food for the poor in Manila. Many of those in the slum area of the city are jobless, with no income and hungry due to a government-imposed lockdown…
Dear Editor, I was not surprised by the announcement that Cardinal George Pell’s conviction of sexual abuse of minors in the 1990s was quashed by the Australian Supreme Court. Fr Brendan Purcell, who spoke to your paper about it [IC 09/04/2020], hit the nail on the head when he criticised the “disaster” of a judicial…
Passing time with trad If you’re a lover of traditional music, this might be for you. TG4, has a free online player that has a huge amount of Irish music. There are live concerts, programmes and box sets of the series they show on TV. Now would be a brilliant time to practice Irish together…