Inés San Martín In October, the government of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo imposed a sweeping ban on civil protest in Nicaragua, which critics saw as an effort to snuff out a spontaneous protest movement that almost brought them down earlier this year. As is almost always the case here in this…
The archbishops of Armagh have pleaded with parishioners not to allow increasingly depressing statistics about homelessness “dull the reality that behind each of these numbers lies a personal story of distress and hardship”. In a joint message due to be released this weekend, Archbishop Eamon Martin and his Church of Ireland counterpart Richard Clarke combine…
Pope Francis approved a new set of laws concerning the structure and governance of Vatican City State in an effort to simplify the many offices and activities of the world’s smallest nation and to boost oversight, transparency and budgetary controls. The measures were issued ‘motu proprio’, on the Pope’s own accord. The Pope said the…
Leading child protection campaigner Marie Collins has said it would be “shortsighted” of the Vatican not to invite Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to a global safeguarding bishops’ summit to be hosted in Rome in February. Fr Hans Zollner SJ, who Pope Francis has asked to coordinate the gathering, has said that while the summit’s planning…
The beatifications of 19 martyrs in Algeria will be a “great joy” to the Church and will help unite Christians and Muslims of the country, said a French-Algerian archbishop. The beatifications represent “hope for the future” rather than a “complaint about the past”, said Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers, the largest city in the North…
We need to make the Church more welcoming to those who acknowledge the beauty of her teachings as well as those who struggle with it, writes Karl Miller At 15, I was active in high school ministry and discerning a place in the priesthood. At 16, I had my first sexual experience with another…
Youth Space Our faith calls us to set the world on fire, writes Blánaid ní Bhraonáin A few weeks ago, a group of young adults from around Ireland joined a pilgrimage to Rome with the theme ‘Our Upward Call’. The trip was organised by the community of Dominican Sisters of St Cecelia. In 2016, four…
Vatican announces historic papal trip to UAE Pope Francis will visit the United Arab Emirates next year, becoming the first Pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the Vatican has announced. In a statement on December 6, the Vatican said the Pope will “participate in the International Interfaith Meeting on ‘Human Fraternity’” after receiving an invitation by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan,…
Walk with dinosaurs The story of the dinosaurs continues to fascinate minds, both young and old, but instead of reading about them in book, why not seem them close-up in Dublin’s 3Arena? Running from December 21-23, Walking With Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular, is based on the award-winning BBC TV series of the same name, and…
Becoming an uncle has prompted a top Chicago rapper to take a “sabbatical” to study the Bible. The grammy-award-winning Chance the Rapper has said following the birth last month of his brother’s first child, a boy named Charlie, he feels he should read up on the Bible to become a better Christian and a better…