A court has acquitted a Catholic priest and a pregnancy counsellor of crimes in connection with the “harassment of abortion clinic clients”. District Judge David Wain February 16 dismissed charges against Fr Sean Gough and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, in a matter of seconds, in a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court. Ms Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for…
An independent commission’s report on the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Portugal “points to the urgent need to combat whatever fosters silence from those who have been impacted by abuse,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston. Silence “impedes effective prevention and the administration of justice,” said the cardinal, who is president…
Staff Reporter An ancient codex containing what is believed to be the earliest, most complete copy of the Hebrew Bible ever discovered is expected to go for $50 million at auction this May. ‘Codex Sassoon’, which dates back to around the 9th or 10th Century, is due to come up for auction at Sotheby’s in…
Two Nicaraguan priests, part of the group of more than 200 political prisoners released February 9 by the regime of Daniel Ortega, celebrated Mass with their compatriots in exile at Sts Agatha Church in Sweetwater, Florida. After the Mass, Fr Benito Enrique Martínez, from the Diocese of León, and Fr José Luis Díaz, from the…
In the case known as “Coup I,” Bolivia’s attorney general’s office has requested that 10 bishops testify regarding their role in the alleged 2019 coup d’état that led to the resignation of President Evo Morales. Archbishop Percy Galván of La Paz, the nation’s capital, charged that the move is an attempt to “intimidate us,” and…
Irish convents formed the “backbone of Irish Catholic society” for centuries, but they have been largely ignored, an Irish historian has said. Convents and the women religious in them were “hugely significant” to the development of the Church and Irish State, Dr Gillian O’Brien told The Irish Catholic. Dr O’Brien is leading a project to…
by Paul Senz One of the challenges we Catholics face is the way in which our liturgical calendar almost becomes like white noise in the background. There is such consistency in our liturgical year that we often don’t give much thought to the changing of the seasons, the feasts, the memorials, the solemnities, as they…
Dublin’s RDS was packed for the Divine Mercy Conference that took place over the weekend after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19. At the closing Mass, Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell thanked all those who attended and encouraged them to resist the temptation facilitated by social media to “speak ill of another”. “We live in…
Missionary injured by land mine has foot amputated An Italian-born Catholic priest has undergone numerous gruelling surgeries, eventually losing his foot, after he sustained injuries in a land mine explosion in the Central African Republic (CAR). The Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN) reported that Fr Norberto Pozzi,…
by Kate Scanlon The FBI is facing scrutiny after a leaked memo suggested some “radical traditionalist” Catholics pose threats of racial or ethnically motivated violence. The memo has since been retracted by the bureau, a spokesperson told OSV News. Robert A. Destro, a professor of law at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of…