Staff reporter On his state visit to Singapore, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin paid an “emotional” visit to a chapel built by prisoners-of-war during WWII. Mr Martin went to Changi Chapel and Museum to pay tribute to his uncle Philip, one of the POW’s interred at Changi camp and whose name is displayed on the chapel…
Oireachtas committee on assisted suicide expected in October A special committee to examine legalising assisted suicide is expected to begin in October according to People before Profit TD Gino Kenny. The committee was recommended in July, following the passage of the so-called Dying with Dignity Bill in the Dáil last year. The bill would give…
The latest warning by the Holy See about the risk of a new schism from Germany arising from the “Synodal Way” has been rejected and met with “astonishment” by its organisers, who in turn accused Rome of not acting like a synodal Church. However, at least one German bishop and a reform group welcomed the new intervention…
Rare documentation of the Portuguese Inquisition with detailed information about the sentencing trials which took place 500 years ago have been digitised for the first time in the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem’s National Library of Israel. The documents include printed versions of sermons preached by two priests at the…
Liam Fitzpatrick Six in ten rent increase notices brought to a housing charity between April and June 2022 were invalid under rent control legislation, according to the organisation’s report. Threshold, a charity whose aim is to secure a right to housing, particularly for households experiencing the problems of poverty and exclusion, analysed 364 requests from…
NASA’s new Moon rocket to launch as soon as August NASA’s mission to return to the Moon, the Artemis programme, could launch its first uncrewed test flight as soon as August 29, the space agency said July 20. Artemis-1 is the first in a series of missions as the United States seeks to return humans…
Those in solitary confinement face higher risk of depression, anxiety and self-harm according to a new study from Queen’s University Belfast, writes Liam Fitzpatrick For a British prisoner in solitary confinement to have the same freedom of movement in his cell as a British mouse does in his cage, he would have to be two…
French parliamentarians warned that thousands of historic churches, many dating from the Middle Ages, will have to be sold or demolished unless government officials allocate resources to maintain them. “Like other Western countries, France faces questions over the future of its religious heritage given society’s growing secularisation,” a report for the French Senate said. “As…
Staff reporter Hollywood star Russell Crowe is set to star as the late Fr Gabriel Amorth, widely known as ‘The Vatican’s Chief Exorcist’, in upcoming movie The Pope’s Exorcist. Mr Crowe hit the headlines recently as he took in Rome on a holiday with family, including a trip to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine…
Now is the time for priests and people to plan creatively for a future together, writes Fr Gareth Byrne Unprecedented change is coming in the Archdiocese of Dublin. In April 2021, Archbishop Dermot Farrell formed a taskforce under the title Building Hope. The archbishop asked the Building Hope taskforce to assess the needs of the…