Dear Editor, The article about TheJournal.ie’s coverage of the pro-life rally was very humorous [The Irish Catholic – July 7, 2022]. Their reporting that “hundreds” of people attended was so blatantly wrong it’s a miracle it was not caught by the organisation’s editors. As miracles are few and far between, in reality it seems to…
Pro-abortion activism picking up at European Parliament
Staff reporter The European Parliament (EP) is becoming a “focal point of pro-abortion activism” after parliamentarians passed a resolution decrying the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade according to an Irish legal counsel based in Strasbourg. The resolution adopted July 7 saw the EP criticise the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs vs…
Issue of women divides in key Australian assembly
Marilyn Rodrigues The second assembly of Australia’s plenary council closed at the weekend after two days of catching up and passing almost all of the motions in its guiding document, including a revised version of the section on the equal dignity of women and men in the Church. Members were noticeably tired after a long week,…
Christian mechanic sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan
Christian mechanic Ashfaq Masih has been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan after allegedly saying that Jesus Christ is the only true prophet. Reading out the 12-page judgment July 4, Khalid Wazir, additional session judge of the Lahore High Court, sentenced Mr Masih to death and fined him 100,000 rupees (€1,246). Mr Masih, 34,…
Synodality: the experience from ‘down under’
The second assembly of Australia’s plenary council ran from July 3-9. A plenary council has wide-ranging power, and Australia has gone through an extensive process to get to this point. Here are some key questions and answers. Q. What was the plenary council? A plenary council is a gathering of the local Church; it has…
Australian council in crisis after motions fail to get enough bishop votes
The agenda for the Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted July 6 after more than 60 of the 277 members staged a protest over issues regarding women in the Church, including the defeat of a motion to formalise support for the ordination of women as deacons. A sense of crisis among plenary members, lay…
Charging your spiritual batteries
Shannon Campbell The View “Nemo dat quod non habet.” That was the advice of our Chaplain, Fr Dominic McGrattan, when I first took up my position as chaplaincy director. As a former lawyer he’s known to throw out the odd legal maxim. Not being a Latinist myself, he thankfully supplied a translation and “no one…
Sectarian flags erected outside church in NI
Liam Fitzpatrick Community members removed paramilitary UDA and Paratroop Regiment flags erected outside St Comgall’s chapel and school in Antrim, with some fearing a potential increase in sectarian tension around July 12. Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney, representative of South Antrim, called the situation “provocative, insensitive and a clear attempt at intimidation” in a statement…
European Parliament calls on Vatican to support Cardinal Zen
The European Parliament has called on the Vatican “to give full support to Cardinal Zen” and told the Holy See it should “strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on the Chinese authorities”. In a resolution passed on July 7, the parliament condemned the arrest of the 90-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong by Chinese authorities and demanded that…
In brief
Journalist accused of inciting destruction of abbey in Spain The Vox political party in Spain has filed a complaint against a journalist who encouraged blowing up the basilica and abbey located on the grounds of the Valley of the Fallen memorial complex northwest of Madrid. The complex is the site of the largest cross in…











