Threats to Lyric FM endanger a heritage that should be especially dear to Catholics, writes Rachel Sherlock It has emerged of late that RTÉ is allegedly considering the future of their classical music station Lyric FM in light of their ongoing financial crisis. While we will have to wait for the coming weeks to…
The persecution of Catholics in mainland China is increasing after prominent Catholic figures in Hong Kong continue to speak out against the communist regime, according to reports. The reports from Bitter Winter, a magazine covering religious liberty and human rights in China, come alongside allegations that the Chinese government has ignored requests to tolerate Catholic…
If I had the chance, I’d be yelling in the UN as well, writes Emma Tobin In the wake of her caustic speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City, Greta Thunberg has been the focus of intense international applause. Following the huge success of her global climate strike, with four…
Less than two weeks before the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon is scheduled to begin at the Vatican, the Brazilian bishops’ Indigenous Missionary Council reported that the number of indigenous land invasions and indigenous murdered in Brazil in 2018 soared. The report, released last week, said the number of indigenous people murdered grew by…
A Catholic bishop in the Philippines has called for a strong response from the government to fight poliovirus, following an announcement last month from health officials that the once-eradicated disease has made a reappearance. “It is very sad that there is a re-emergence of polio after having eliminated it for many years,” Bishop Broderick Pabillo,…
Tributes have been paid to Bishop Éamonn Walsh for his “pioneering” work in ensuring child safeguarding within the Church in Ireland. The Vatican announced in a communique on Monday that Pope Francis had accepted Dr Walsh’s retirement as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin. He turned 75 last month. Bishop Walsh served as the Apostolic Administrator…
Lawmakers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca have approved a measure to decriminalise abortion, despite vocal Church opposition. The measure passed the Oaxaca state legislature, 24-10, amid shouts in the session from boisterous supporters and opponents. It allows for abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Oaxaca becomes the second Mexican jurisdiction to…
Police in South Korea are investigating a doctor who mistakenly performed an abortion on the wrong woman in August. The mix-up was due to an inadvertent switch of medical charts and a failure to confirm the patient’s identity before the procedure, CNN reports. A Vietnamese woman pregnant with a 6-week-old baby entered a gynaecology clinic…
First US head of CDF group dies age 83 US Cardinal William Levada, former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation and retired archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, died on September 26 in Rome. He was 83. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he named then-Archbishop Levada to replace…
The Pope John Paul II Award is merely a gong with no real value unless those doing it “take seriously how the Gospel can help us understand where our society is damaging itself”, Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown told young people at Knock Shrine on Friday. Speaking at the National Pope John Paul II Award Pilgrimage,…