The introduction of “no-fault” divorces in the United Kingdom will undermine marriages from the outset, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales have said. In the first major overhaul of U.K. divorce law for 50 years, the British government announced on April 9 that it would allow couples to split up simply by filing a…
Christians must be courageous when praying to God and not simply repeat prayers “like a parrot”, Pope Francis has said. “In common parlance, people use an expression that I really like when they have a goal: ‘I put it all on the line’. In intercessory prayers, this also applies: ‘I put it all on the…
Pope Francis has named Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta as the new archbishop of Washington. The appointment was announced today in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Gregory, 71, a former president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops who helped navigate the conference through the clergy sexual…
Perry West New legislation in Alabama would ban all abortions in the state, except in cases where the mother faces a “serious health risk”. The bill, introduced in both the Alabama House and Senate on April 2, would make it a felony for doctors to perform or attempt an abortion. Women would not be…
The View Martin Mansergh Standing outside the church after a funeral last week, a woman volunteered that one of her antecedents had been an RIC District Inspector in North Kerry, who was shot dead by the IRA in 1921. Having just finished reading Fergal Keane’s Wounds: A Memoir of War & Love about the…
After all, next to being pro-life, being nationalist-minded is probably the next biggest mortal sin in Irish politics, writes Pól Ó Muirí If I mention the name, Peadar Tóibín, I am sure that the words ‘pro-life’ pop into your head. If Mr Tóibín has one Unique Selling Point at the moment: it is that…
If the Church restores the female diaconate it will be up to individual bishops to decide, writes Phyllis Zagano Nearly three years ago, Pope Francis accepted the request of the International Union of Superiors General, the membership organisation of some 1,800 heads of women’s religious orders and institutes, to establish a commission to study…
To fight clerical sexual abuse, the Catholic Church must have clear laws and procedures, but it also must engage in “spiritual combat”, because it is obvious the devil is at work, Pope Francis said. Speaking to reporters on March 31 on his way back to Rome from Morocco, the Pope said stopping abuse requires a…
Renowned exorcist Fr Pat Collins is due to give a rare insight into demonic activity in Ireland with a public talk in Dublin based on his best-selling book Freedom from Evil Spirits. Following a gripping television interview on the Late Late Show in which the Dublin-based priest claimed that a “tsunami of evil is washing over Ireland”,…
Two Dublin Catholic primary schools sent letters to parents saying a potential change in patronage would end in-school celebration of religious holidays, sparking a row among parents. The schools, Scoil Naomh Mearnóg and Scoil an Duinnínigh, are among the eight the Dublin Archdiocese has asked to consider a change of patronage, after a Department of…