The incarcerated Cardinal George Pell is facing an investigation by Australian prison authorities, after images of a letter he sent to supporters were posted on social media. Pictures of the two-page letter were posted on Twitter last Friday by the ‘Cardinal Pell Supporters’ account. According to Australian prison regulations, inmates are not permitted to access…
A close confidant of jailed Australian Cardinal George Pell has said he thinks a desire for a high-profile ‘win’ by police may have influenced the decision to prosecute the Churchman. Dr Pell (78) was found guilty last December of sexual abuse and sentenced to six years in prison. Judges will reveal on August 21 whether…
Senior Vatican representatives joined the first officially approved Church festival at Medjugorje, three months after Catholic pilgrimages to the site in Bosnia-Herzegovina were authorised by the Pope. “We are called to share the difficulties of our contemporaries and we have a responsibility to care for them,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for…
Dom Mark Patrick Hederman OSB discusses the deafness of modern humanity to mythology I suppose my appreciation of myth must come from not having been to school myself until I was nine years old. This allowed me time to experience the world as a child in the way a child naturally relates to it. Imagination…
An Indian Catholic nun was dismissed from her Kerala-based congregation for violation of its norms, but the 54-year-old said she plans to fight the action in court. Sr Lucy Kalapura, a member of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, maintained that she was dismissed from the order on August 5 for publicly seeking action against a bishop…
In response to the recent revival of interest in walking Ireland’s pilgrim paths the third annual pilgrim walk has been launched in Cashel, taking place from August 24-31. The five ancient routes which will be walked over this period are: St Finbarr’s Pilgrim Path, Co. Cork; Cnoc na dTobar, Co. Kerry; Cosán na Naomh, Co. Kerry; St Kevin’s Way,…
More than 150,000 people are set to descend on Knock for their annual Novena, with this year said to have special features as it celebrates 140 years since the Apparition. The novena began this week on Wednesday and featured a talk from former Taoiseach John Bruton. It runs from August 14-21 and includes speakers such…
The bishop of the Diocese of Elphin has criticised adults who facilitate underage drinking by giving or selling it to young people. Bishop Kevin Doran mentioned that a number of young people were drinking at a summer festival in Sligo over the weekend on the diocese’s Facebook page. He said: “The streets were full of…
The president of the Polish bishops’ conference confirmed the country’s Catholic Church will resist “LGBT ideology” as equality campaigners demanded the dismissal of an archbishop who branded gays and lesbians a “rainbow pestilence”. “People belonging to so-called sexual minority circles are our brothers and sisters for whom Christ gave his life,” Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of…
Dr David Carey discusses how to foster good behaviour in children Children are not born with a neural template to engage peacefully with others. This is a skill that must be learned by interacting with the environment, aided by parents and caregivers, including, often very importantly, teachers. If we take some time to look…