It was no silent revolution

Eighth Amendment While the Church can never become a cult of the perfect, it has to help each of us along the narrow road to a deeper relationship with God, writes Fr John Harris OP   The tsunami of the vote in favour of abortion was no silent revolution, it was the biggest wake-up call…

Irish kids asked to design Pope garb for WMOF

Boys and girls across Ireland are being tasked with a unique challenge – to design Pope Francis clothes. Pope Francis’ charity for overseas mission, World Missions Ireland (WMI), are commemorating the Pontiff’s visit for the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) this August by gifting him with a specially designed set of vestments. Julieann Moran, National…

Crowds gather for alleged 
crying Virgin Mary statue

A Virgin Mary statue at a Hispanic Catholic church in southeastern New Mexico is drawing visitors from around the region because it appears tears are flowing from the statue’s face. Visitors of the bronze statue located inside the auxiliary building of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church said the statue wept. “There were tears coming down…

Caritas reacts to Indonesia volcano eruptions

Church social action charity Caritas has rushed to distribute thousands of face-masks and provide eye drops to people living in Indonesia’s Semarang Archdiocese following a series of volcanic eruptions. Considered one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, Mount Merapi, in central Java, has seen at least nine eruptions over the last month, sending steam and ash clouds…

Christians call to remove Iran control in Iraq

In the aftermath of Iraq’s elections, Christians want to see a government formed that is free from the sectarianism that has torn apart the country, and they want Iran’s influence to diminish. Both issues have played a huge role in politics since the 2003 US-led invasion. Fr Emanuel Youkhana, a priest of the Assyrian Church…

We need to get used to being a minority

Eighth Amendment After the referendum, the challenge for us Catholics is how do we ensure that the next generation embraces what means so much to us, writes Larry Donnelly   The people have spoken, emphatically. While most of us who like to think we are in the political know saw the Eighth Amendment referendum campaign…

In brief

Catholics condemn killing of protestors by police Thousands of Catholics marched in solidarity with those protesting a multi-million euro copper-processing unit in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on May 27 after an earlier showdown with police left 13 dead. The demonstrators’ clashes with security officials last week resulted in officers opening fire. At least…