Mercy at the heart of the Pope’s new series of talks God’s mercy is constant and limitless, and he is faithful in his mercy for his children, even when they are unfaithful, Pope Francis has said in his first general audience of 2016, the first of a series of weekly talks on mercy. Claiming that in the Bible, from the “Old Testament to the full…
Kenya’s bishops have said they are “shocked and surprised” by government plans to regulate worship in the east African country. Responding to concerns that some pastors were fleecing followers and some mosques are becoming centres of radicalisation, the government has published new rules requiring religious leaders to have theological degrees and religious groups to submit…
Two American bishops have written to the government seeking an end to deportation raids that earlier this month rounded up more than 120 Central American immigrants. “We disagree with the underlying rationale behind this action: that sending children and families back to the dangerous environment they fled will serve as a deterrent for other children…
Dear Editor, The statistics in the report in last week’s paper (IC 14/01/2016) about the rise in persecution of Christians made for some scary reading. Sometimes Catholics here in Ireland talk about being under attack or being persecuted by the secular culture around us. While it is fair to say our media, our Government and…
John Wyse Jackson Windharp: Poems of Ireland since 1916 edited by Niall MacMonagle (Penguin Ireland, £20.00hb) A plethora of poetry anthologies has appeared in Ireland over the last few years. This latest one takes as its starting point the date of our nation’s foundation myth, 1916. Its editor, a teacher and broadcaster, is an old hand at…
Cathal Barry and Mags Gargan ‘Brain drain’ threatening many parishes The Government has been accused of neglecting rural Ireland to such an extent that many people see no hope for the future, priests at the coalface have told The Irish Catholic. Clare-based Fr Harry Bohan said rural communities “have been so badly neglected that it is nearly impossible to…
Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, plays soccer with boys while visiting Gaza City. The bishop was part of a delegation from North America, Europe and South Africa (Photo: CNS).
Ulster rugby players to speak on Christian faith Three well-known Ulster Rugby players – Ruan Pienaar, Wiehahn Herbst and Paul Marshall – will be talking about their faith at a service in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, on Monday, January 25, at 8pm. Ruan Pienaar has 88 caps for South Africa and played for the South African team that won the World Cup…
Pope Francis’ first book The Name of God is Mercy is published this week. Here The Irish Catholic carries extracts from the book. In his almost three years as Pope, Francis has urged all Catholics, especially priests and bishops, to get out of their comfortable church buildings and take the message of God directly to…
Andrea Tornielli For Pope Francis, mercy is a personal encounter with God, writes Andrea Tornielli On March 13, 2015, as I listened to Francis’ homily for the penitential liturgy, at the end of which he was about to announce the Extraordinary Holy Year, I thought: it would be great to ask him some questions specifically…