Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Vatican News reported. While the Vatican press office issued no statement regarding Cardinal Parolin’s September 22 meeting, the Russian foreign ministry tweeted a video of the two officials shaking hands and exchanging…
Chai Brady, Ruadhán Jones and Jason Osborne Catholic schools have welcomed moves in the budget to ease the cost-of-living crisis. The Government announced on Tuesday that schoolbooks will now be provided by the State at a cost of €43m which is expected to save families €100 per child. There is also more funding for special…
The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has expelled the Religious Sisters of the Cross, thus continuing its attacks against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. “Today, victims of the harassment and threats of the dictatorship, the Religious Sisters of the Cross (founded in Mexico) who had been in Matagalpa for years doing spiritual work…
In the aftermath of the fire that gutted a church in Cameroon, Bishop Aloysius Fondong of the Diocese of Mamfé entered the ruins to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament and found the sacred Hosts and the ciborium containing them to be intact. On the night of September 16, armed men set fire to St Mary’s church…
Strong education key to ‘better world,’ cardinal tells UN summit During a UN education summit, the Vatican’s secretary of state reiterated Pope Francis’ pre-pandemic call that education is “one of the most effective ways of making our work and history more human”. Addressing the final day of the Transforming Education Summit September 19, Cardinal Pietro…
The unprecedented consultation process reveals that many self-styled liberals are intolerant of those who differ from them, writes Fr Andrew McMahon Former TV3 presenter, Ursula Halligan, returned briefly to our screens this summer, in the surprising circumstances of the national pre-synodal assembly. The past political editor, and prominent campaigner for same-sex marriage, featured in RTÉs…
Study suggests 20 quadrillion ants on Earth There are at least 20 quadrillion ants on Earth, AFP reports. This is according to a new study that says even that towering figure likely underestimates the total population of the insects, which are an essential part of ecosystems around the world. Determining the global population of ants…
In open defiance of the Vatican, Catholic bishops in Belgium September 20 announced the introduction of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in their dioceses. The bishops of Flanders also published a liturgy for the celebration of homosexual unions. “In doing so, they are going directly against the Vatican,” reported Nederlands Dagblad. The Vatican published an official clarification in March…
by Junno Arocho Esteves The Gospel of St John tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with a man who was born blind. Upon seeing him, the disciples asked Jesus if the man’s blindness was due to his sins or that of his parents. “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works…
A senior Russian priest dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war as “just words,” but said many young Catholics now fear being forcibly conscripted with their priests to join the war against Ukraine. “Although I’m not a military person, I don’t think the Russian army could even use nuclear weapons – and if it…