If the political will existed, there could have been a reasonable discussion about the Eighth Amendment, writes Cora Sherlock It didn’t have to be like this. But, unfortunately, the Oireachtas committee on abortion decided otherwise from the get-go. As each week passes, this becomes clearer as one abortion advocate after another presents to the…
Over 150 locations to congregate have been identified for an event aimed at promoting the Faith and the protection of the unborn. ‘Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith’, organised by lay people, will see Faithful from across Ireland gather to recite the rosary on the coast. It was inspired by similar gatherings in…
Fay Morrison enjoying some delicious Italian-style ice cream at Gino’s Gelato, Grafton Street, Dublin to celebrate a successful fundraising campaign for Temple Street Children’s Hospital. The campaign which launched in June, raised €10, 057.44 for the hospital over three months with a donation made from the sale of every large gelato sold between June and…
Laudato Si’: An Irish response, essays on the Pope’s Letter on the Environment edited by Sean McDonagh (Veritas, €14.99) Eamon Ryan The papal encyclical Laudato Si’ has been described as ‘a most dangerous book’. It attempts a giant leap forward in the church’s social teaching by calling for a profound ecological conversion, which brings…
Plans to convene a national dialogue forum in the face of a political crisis were announced by Kenya’s bishops, as they say the country’s ordinary people are on the brink of despair. The forum will assemble all sectors to set an agenda for honest discussions and resolutions for the country. Urgent matters to be addressed…
In Brief Defense of the unborn, racial division and immigration were the prominent topics of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops this week. The Church in the US has at times been a part of the problem of racism despite fighting it for many years, according to one bishop. Bishop George Murry, head of the…
In Brief Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminister, backed the Patriarch of Jerusalem in his campaign to preserve the place of Christians in the Holy Land as it exists now. Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III, warned Cardinal Nichols that the current ‘Status Quo’ agreement that protects land tenure in Jerusalem is at risk, as a…
In Brief A diocese in northern Vietnam has begun construction of a church dedicated to Dominican martyrs, replacing the ruins of an earlier one destroyed during a US air raid in 1967. Bishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hai Phong celebrated a special Mass to begin the construction of the new church at the Hai…
In Brief Pakistan will issue 50,000 commemorative 50 rupee coins in honour of German-born Catholic nun and physician Sister Ruth Martha Pfau who dedicated her life to eradicating leprosy in the country. Known as Pakistan’s Mother Teresa, Sister Pfau died in Karachi on August 10 at the age of 87. She was given a state funeral, an honour…
Worried about your kids’ texts? There’s an app for that! Parents worried about their children sending and sharing inappropriate texts and images may have a helpful answer in the form of a new app. The Oyoty app, developers claim, detects when pictures show too much exposed flesh, when texts use abusive or bullying language, and…