The Church needs bishops who promote unity, “not soloists singing their own tune or captains fighting personal battles”, Pope Francis told new bishops from the Church’s mission territories. “And, dear brothers, flee from clericalism, an anomalous way of understanding the Church’s authority, one common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power…
Presidential-hopeful Joan Freeman has credited the intercession of Our Lady at Knock for healing her of a skin condition when she was a teenager. The Independent Senator who is running for the presidency said that her Faith was “absolutely responsible” for curing her of eczema on a visit to Knock Shrine when she was younger.…
The Vatican is set to respond to claims made by the former papal nuncio to the US which include allegations that Pope Francis covered up abuse. A statement was released by the Council of Cardinals this week which stated they were “aware that in the current debate” of recent weeks the Holy See is about…
Exploding Data: Reclaiming Our Cyber Security in the Digital Age by Michael Chertoff (Grove Press, £20) Peter Hegarty When it comes to the protection of data “we are overdue to recast the rules of the road”, says Michael Chertoff, writing with the authority of a former US Secretary of Homeland Security. What he has to say has…
The New York State Office of the Attorney General is the latest to announce that it is launching an investigation of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Church clergy, and at least two of the state’s eight dioceses confirmed receiving subpoenas seeking access to its records. In a September 6 press release, the agency said…
Smitten Soul: Illuminating the Dark, by Gabriel Fitzmaurice; with paintings by Brenda Fitzmaurice (Salmon Poetry, €12.00) Seamus Cashman “Am I going to Mass on Sundays?” Mary asks in a string of questions, and the poet remarks, “how the good are frightened of their Church”. The poem, from Gabriel Fitzmaurice’s latest collection, is called ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’ and it carries…
Without literature, we lose our humanity, writes Davis Clark The perception among many of us is that reading as an art is slowly fading from public consciousness, as people throw down their Shakespeare in favour of smartphones and Netflix. This is only partially true – literacy is increasing worldwide, and it’s been estimated that…
Millions of devotees joined this year’s observance in the Philippines of the devotion to the Our Lady of Penafrancia. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, supposedly a copy of the original image in Spain, has been venerated in Naga City, in the Philippines’ Bicol region since the 1700s. A Spanish priest supposedly ordered a local…
The 1983 Code of Canon Law did not anticipate crimes being committed by bishops that could result in their laicisation, according to a canon law professor at The Catholic University of America. Fr Robert Kaslyn SJ, who has taught courses in laicisation, said the Second Vatican Council has also made it more complicated to remove…
Youth Space Seeing the joy created from volunteering makes it all worth it, writes Emma Meehan On August 25, as part of a CEIST school initiative, 12 fifth year students, accompanied by their teachers, Mr Jason Cotter and Mrs Tina Johnston, had the privilege of travelling to Dublin to volunteer at the Papal Mass…