After postponing his trip last July, Pope Francis has rescheduled for January 31-February 5 his trip to Congo and his ecumenical visit to South Sudan, the Vatican announced. With the Pope’s mobility still impaired, the new schedule for the trip has been trimmed slightly from what was planned in July, according to the scheduled released…
by Dennis Sadowski Saying they are outraged by growing “antisemitic rhetoric” across the country, members of the US bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs urged Christians to decry hate-filled statements and violence aimed at Jewish individuals, homes and institutions. Committee members also denounced “any rhetoric which seeks to demonise or dehumanise the Jewish people…
Migration across the Mediterranean Sea is as old as humanity, and while some governments say they want to stop that movement of people, it will not and should not happen, Pope Francis said. “Migration is essential to the well-being of this area and cannot be stopped. Therefore, it is in the interest of all parties…
Dear Editor, The whitewashing of even the word Christmas from events organised by some Government bodies – despite clearly being Christmas festivals/markets – is deeply concerning. Well done for highlighting it on your front page [The Irish Catholic – December 1, 2022]. It is sad to see the values on which Ireland as we know…
Prefect of Vatican economy office steps down Three years after Pope Francis appointed him to speed up financial reforms, transparency and budget controls at the Vatican, Jesuit Fr Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves has resigned for health reasons. The Vatican announced November 30 that Fr Guerrero was stepping down as prefect of the Secretariat for the…
by Fr John Harris Notebook On a night out with friends from college I was once asked if I was an optimist or a pessimist; did I see the glass half full or half empty. I had to think about to for a moment. I had to admit I generally see the glass as being…
Chai Brady, Ruadhán Jones and Jason Osborne Senior Oireachtas members have criticised the “lack of respect” shown for Christians as publicly-funded agencies increasingly use ‘winter’ instead of ‘Christmas’ to speak about the celebration of the birth of Christ. The stance taken by bodies like Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland of excluding Christian sentiments is…
Staff Reporter Pope Francis has described meeting survivors of abuse in Ireland as “one of the most heated situations I have had to face”. The Pope was referring to the meeting in 2018 during the World Meeting of Families which took place a day before the Mass in the Phoenix Park. In a new interview,…
Staff Reporter England and Wales are now minority Christian countries, according to the 2021 British census. The census revealed a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians and a 44% rise in the number of people following Islam. It is the first time in a census of England and Wales that less than half…
Staff Reporter The Church in Ireland must “put synodality into practice” and call a synodal assembly on the future of Catholic education, a prominent Irish theologian has said. Church divestment of Catholic education premises is an “obvious area of concern” for the future of the Church, Prof. Eamonn Conway has written in The Synodal Times,…