Letter from Rome Elise Harris A preliminary outline of Pope Francis’ coming apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia reveals the merger of several more departments and an increased emphasis on the presence of laity as part of a reform hinged on decentralisation and synodality and fuelled by evangelisation. Tentatively titled Praedicate Evangelium, a draft of the…
The priest who led the funeral Mass for Limerick boxer Kevin Sheehy has described his death as “cruel”. The five times Irish boxing champion was killed in an early morning hit-and-run on July 1, causing shock across the country. Logan Jackson, from Coventry in England, appeared in court last week charged with murdering the 20-year-old…
No quick “fixes” or organisational change will renew the Catholic Church in Germany, Pope Francis has said, maintaining that what is needed is a spiritual renewal and Gospel transparency. In a letter to “the pilgrim people of God in Germany”, published by the Vatican, the Pope said efforts to eliminate tension solely by “being in…
The Vatican City State tribunal has ordered the opening of two tombs in a small Vatican cemetery at the request of the family of Emanuela Orlandi, a young woman who disappeared in 1983. Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican City resident and the daughter of a Vatican employee, disappeared in Rome on June 22, 1983, when she…
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rapidly declined in June, showing the severe economic impact of the Easter bombings on the Indian Ocean island nation. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said there were 63,072 tourist visits to Sri Lanka last month, a drop of 57% compared with June 2018, when the number was 146,828. The…
France’s Catholic Church pronounced a priest guilty of sexually abusing multiple Boy Scouts over several years and defrocked him last week, an unusually strong move that reflects France’s growing reckoning with clergy sex abuse. The ruling by a Church tribunal was the latest development in a case with repercussions that reached the highest levels of…
Jacobites: A New History of the ‘45 Rebellion by Jacqueline Riding (Bloomsbury, £25.00) John Bruton I have greatly enjoyed reading this new history of the 1745 Rebellion. It appears at a very appropriate time. I read it during my recent visit to Scotland, during which I was at Glenfinnan, where Prince Charles Edward first raised the…
Madison Duddy hears a chaplain’s advice to students returning home from college When every academic year comes to a close, students are forced to pack their things, leaving a life of freedom as they head for their hometowns. After the initial enjoyment of free food and clean laundry wears off, college students realise they…
100 days to a Younger Brain by Dr. Sabina Brennan (Orion Spring, £14.99) Dr Christopher Moriarty Recent decades have seen profound changes in human life and understanding: people are living longer and research workers have been equipped with instruments and techniques that have led to an understanding of the minutiae of how the brain functions.…
Francis gives St Peter’s bone fragments to Orthodox leader Pope Francis has unexpectedly given a reliquary containing what are believed to be bone fragments of St Peter to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, an ecumenical gesture that has generated controversy among some Catholics. The Pope took the reliquary from the chapel in the papal apartments, where Pope…