The annual Clonard Novena which draws in thousands each year promises to remind us of that “we can all be saints” in our complex, modern lives. Each year, the Novena follows a carefully worked out theme which is explored through preaching and the specially commissioned booklet with additional reflections. This year, the theme of the…
Pope Francis praised Allied troops who took part in critical D-Day landings in France 75 years ago, while also remembering German soldiers who died fighting under Nazi orders. “We know the landings on June 6, 1944, here in Normandy were decisive in the struggle against Nazi barbarism, allowing a path to open towards ending a…
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have banned the National Institutes of Health from using human foetal stem cells from electively aborted babies for government funded research. The department also issued a $20 million (€17.6 million) grant for research to develop models that do not rely on human foetal tissue yesterday. HHS…
Cardinal George Pell was taken back to prison at the end of a two-day hearing on his appeal of his conviction on five counts of child sexual abuse. A three-judge panel from the Appeals Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria said it would announce its judgment at a later date yesterday (June 6), giving…
Police in Vietnam have been accused of abducting a Catholic advocate for social and charitable activities. Nguyen Thi Tinh said her husband Nguyen Nang Tinh, 43, was seized and pushed into a truck by police officers while he and their two sons were on their way to breakfast on May 29, ucanews.com reported. The official…
Catholic bishops of East Africa have introduced a handbook to help Church leaders develop standards to safeguard the safety of children. Child Safeguarding – Standards and Guidelines: A Catholic Guide for Policy Development was introduced in the Kenyan capital by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa, known as AMECEA. The release followed…
Elise Harris At nearly a month since his passing, the legacy of Jean Vanier is far from forgotten, and continues to live on in friends and colleagues who say the Canadian theologian not only impacted their lives personally, but also changed theology and the way the Church views the human person. “He was such a…
Inés San Martín In his first direct comments about the case of Theodore McCarrick, Pope Francis said that “about McCarrick I knew nothing, obviously, nothing, nothing”. “I said it many times, I knew nothing, no idea,” Francis said in an interview with Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki. Speaking about the allegation made by Archbishop Carlo Maria…
Philippine authorities are trying to win the hearts and minds of people amid allegations that police officers have been behind many of the thousands of drug-related killings that have stained the country’s image in recent years, ucanews.com reported. At a police camp in the central Philippines, police hosted a traditional ‘Flores de Mayo, (‘Flowers of…
This is an edited extract of Emma Tobin’s (22) speech at the Believers in the Digital World: Opportunities for Mission seminar. It’s a powerful thing, social media. I’ve tried to ignore it, tried to pretend it didn’t matter to me if people ‘liked’ what I said or not, but in reality, it does matter. It…