A chapel built over the ruins of the Great Synagogue of Palermo in Sicily has been transferred to the Jewish community to renew Jewish worship on the site for the first time in 500 years. An official ceremony on January 12 saw the Oratory of Santa Maria al Sabato transferred from the control of the…
The head of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference has issued a plea to his government to open humanitarian channels to allow the Church’s aid agency Caritas to distribute desperately needed medicines and basic goods. Addressing a gathering of his fellow prelates in Caracas, Archbishop Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez said the ongoing economic crisis in the nation…
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has pledged to construct the nation’s largest church as part of the massive project to create a new capital city. During his official visit to St Mark’s cathedral in Cairo to join with Pope Tawadros II and other members of the Coptic Church for the January 6 Christmas celebrations,…
French presidential contender Marine Le Pen has criticised her main rival for linking his political credentials to his Christian faith. The far-right candidate Le Pen, who has scored political points in criticising the nation’s Muslim community, stated that Francois Fillon’s referencing of his Catholic faith is at odds with France’s secular tradition. “The French are…
Vatican watchdog raised concerns about Amoris Laetitia Just days after the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) insisted there was no threat of a ‘fraternal correction’ of Pope Francis in connection with his exhortation Amoris Laetitia, it has emerged that the Congregation itself had raised issues relating to the document…
Dear Editor, The Bishop of Kilmore has said the question of ordaining married men to the priesthood may be raised during the ad limina visit to Rome (IC 12/1/2017). As a convert from Anglicanism, I should like to make a number of points as to why any such proposal should be regarded with caution. First,…
Dear Editor, The basic idealism that prompts a young man to be a priest can often be the very quality that a similar young woman longs to find in a prospective partner. Few fellows today are looking for a chaste girl, so most girls, not primarily motivated by sexual desire, may feel obliged to ‘get…
Dear Editor, I have written to The Late Late Show to complain about an item that appeared on the January 6 edition of the show when in a discussion about a “post-truth” world, we had to endure sneering and mockery of Jesus and the Blessed Eucharist, which Ryan Tubridy seemed to find amusing. The Eucharist was referred…
Dear Editor, At a time when we are being asked by Pope Francis among others to rethink our relationship to our God-made environment, we are asked to examine our consumption patterns. One aspect of consumption is the food we eat. As Church, we are also called upon to make acts of personal sacrifice including special…
Dear Editor, This country at the present time is going through the greatest crisis of faith. For a long time I prayed for another papal visit to this country – now Pope Francis is coming in 2018, and please God there will be a healing of the wounds of the past and a great revival…