A Christian watchdog in Iraq has warned that troops advancing on the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) frontline in Mosul may be about to uncover the site of a mass grave for Christians slaughtered by the terror group during its time in control of the city. The grim prospect has been offered by the Shlomo Organisation,…
A government official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced that the much-anticipated presidential election may not go ahead after all this year due to the cost of staging such a poll. The announcement is a bitter blow to the nation’s Catholic bishops who had worked with opposing sides since late in 2016…
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has insisted that a conscience protection Bill currently before Congress is vital in protecting medical professionals from being compelled to carry out abortions. In a letter to lawmakers, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop William Lori, chair of…
Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church strengthen links The Russian Orthodox Church has announced plans to strengthen cooperation with the Vatican in the area of monitoring Christian persecution in the Middle East and other areas. The announcement came ahead of a meeting in Havana, Cuba, on February 12 between Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council…
Long before he assumed the highest office in the United States, President Donald Trump’s contradictory statements on everything from the war in Iraq to abortion were subjected to quizzically raised brows and prime-time debates. None of which has done the billionaire businessman any harm as he harangues and denounces anyone brazen enough to try and…
Dear Editor, The State-funded Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) is now campaigning for abortion. In its statement to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on February 13 in Geneva, and in its report submitted to the committee in January, it focused on “a woman’s right to bodily autonomy” and…
I Believe: The Promise of the Creed by Pope Francis (Orbis Books / Alban Books, £14.99) This is the American translation of a book which originally appeared in German in 2015. It has been edited by Stephan von Kempis, who has picked out from a wide range of the Pope’s writings and talks, passages that…
Bro. Conor McDonough Picture the scene: a mid-20th-Century crowd of Irish emigrants in a newsagent’s after Mass. They all rush to buy the ‘Irish papers’ to find out what the important people in Dublin are doing and how the metropolis views the provinces. Then in walks a Monaghan eccentric. He has notions, so maybe he’s…
Dear Editor, Like Fr Tom Whelan (‘Fresh Mass translation ‘a long shot’’ IC 02/02/2017), I agree that the “pragmatics of administrators will win out,” when it comes to the future of the largely unloved 2011 translation of the Roman Missal. Its turgid prose, erratic use of capital letters and badly designed presentation of prayers in…
Gregory O’Connor Rebellion and Revolution in Dublin: Voices from a Suburb, Rathfarnham, 1913-23 (South Dublin County Council, €15; available also from any South Dublin Library, or online from www.southdublinlibraries.ie/bookstore) This book consists of 13 essays by different authors on various aspects of the momentous events which occurred in the 10 years between the founding of…