Last Sunday saw Dublin’s pro cathedral host the annual Rite of Election and Enrolement for 50 new members of the Catholic Church in the archdiocese. In the presence of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, 43 catechumens (awaiting baptism) and seven candidates (baptised) attended the ceremony to welcome them to the Church, culminating in each one signing the…
The campaign to save Cistercian College Roscrea is gathering momentum. Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week, Ronnie Culliton of Save Cistercian College Roscrea (SCCR) said there had been a “great response” since parents and past pupils launched an appeal for funds to sustain the institution into the future. “There have lots of small donations,”…
This is both a hopeful time and a grim one for those concerned about the persecution of Christians and freedom of conscience, according to an Iranian convert to Catholicism. Speaking in Dublin’s Newman University Church, Wall Street Journal editorial writer Sohrab Ahmari said there are grounds for hope, “because the question of the persecution of…
Restoration work on the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre will be completed in time for the celebration of Easter Sunday, April 16, it has been announced. Following nine months of refurbishment on the Edicule sitting atop the central site of the Christian world, the National Technical University of Athens, which…
Leading Muslim groups and figures in Egypt have denounced the targeting of Christians by so-called Islamic State (ISIS). As Christians continue to flee the Sinai region after seven murders of community members, leaders of religious and political authorities have issued statements in support of their Christian countrymen and critical of the militants. Among them is…
The Catholic bishops of South Sudan have stressed that they are not taking sides in the conflict currently affecting the nation and causing a growing famine. While continuing to denounce violence on all sides which has now reached depraved extremes, the bishops have been at pains to stress that they are “not against the government”…
The bishop whose diocese includes the parish in Medjugorje has reiterated his belief that no apparitions have ever taken place at the site. In the wake of news that Pope Francis has appointed a special delegate to examine the pastoral situation at the famed Bosnia-Herzegovina site, Bishop Ratko Peri of Mostar-Duvno issued a message on…
China has been accused of increasing its interference in some faiths, including Christianity, in a drive to thwart ‘foreign’ religions. According to a new report, ‘The Battle for China’s Spirit’, from Freedom House, a US-based advocacy group for political and human freedoms, China is increasingly acting against followers of Christianity and Islam while at the…
Pope prays for persecuted Christians The prayer intention of Pope Francis for March 2017 is “that persecuted Christians may be supported by the prayers and material help of the whole Church”. In a monthly reflection on the papal prayer intention, the Apostleship of Prayer notes that Pope Francis has asked for special prayers for persecuted…
The voices led by the Catholic Church in the Philippines against the murderous anti-drug tactics of President Rodrigo Duterte gained an important boost last week. On March 2 the international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) released the results of its own ‘sample study’ into the phenomenon of extrajudicial killings being laid at the door…