The Notebook Fr Vincent Sherlock He was at a wedding the day before. I caught up to him as he walked towards the door of our local church for the Vigil Mass. He was telling someone about the wedding – a great do with plenty of food and, of course, drink. I smiled as…
The upcoming abortion referendum featured heavily in the first cabinet meeting of 2018. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told reporters at Government Buildings there is a fear allowing abortion up to 12 weeks is “one step too far” for majority of public.
Nations must find peaceful ways to deal with conflict, because everyone has the right to life and liberty, Pope Francis told diplomats accredited to the Vatican while outlining the need for disarmament and dialogue. The Pope called for debate on the stockpiling of weapons and conflict resolution that “avoids polarising the international community” in his…
Church leaders in the Congo have condemned security forces’ attacks on Catholic protestors that have left at least eight people dead and 120 detained. The Vatican Embassy in Kinshasa backed local church officials, saying that “the promotion of social justice and the defence of political and civil rights of citizens are an integral part of…
Seven bishops have responded to bishops’ conferences that issued guidelines that foresee the possibility of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics returning to the Sacraments in some circumstances. The norms and guidelines are the bishops’ responses to Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. Archbishop Tomash Peta and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana and retired Archbishop…
Catholic agencies in the US have been struggling to keep vulnerable people warm as a spate of brutally cold weather envelops the eastern two-thirds of the country. Temperatures plunged to -15C in some places. From Montana to Florida and Texas to Maine homeless shelters opened additional hours to shield people from frosty Arctic winds, which…
Far from being a burden, older Catholics are a source of renewal and new growth, writes Fr Paddy Gleeson An article in the New York Times in early December spoke of the dramatic decline of the Catholic Church in Ireland in recent decades. Towards the end of the article, the Archbishop of Dublin Dr…
Witnessing the situations certain people are living in around the world is a reminder of the true meaning of hope according to a Phillipines cardinal. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said that in his ministry as Archbishop of Manila and in his travels for church-charity Caritas he sees people living in situations the world would see…
Jesuits’ deaths ‘shock’ to Dublin school One of Dublin’s most prestigious schools has expressed its “deep shock” after the deaths of two long-serving staff members on the same day. Staff and students at Gonzaga College were informed on Monday of the deaths of Fr Joe Brennan SJ and Fr Kennedy O’Brien. “As you can imagine, the college community is in…
2017 was a bonanza year for Irish-based Mass streaming service Church Service TV (CSTV), with the number of parishes using the service increasing by 30%. The Bray, Co. Wicklow-based service live-streamed 59,888 scheduled events from 108 different locations over 2017, reaching some 15 million viewers from 205 countries over the course of the year. CSTV’s…