Irish missionary Sr Cyril Mooney, whose work enabled thousands of disadvantaged girls in India to receive proper education, has died in Kolkata at the age of 86. Sr Mooney was an “eminent educational reformer, social worker and friend of the poor”, according to Chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee. “Her contribution to State welfare…
Emily Stimpson Chapman In Rome, the churches are legion. Little parishes and great basilicas alike meet travellers on every block of the ancient city, their facades mingling with shops and restaurants, apartments and ancient ruins. Although unique visions of beauty and faith greet all those who cross the thresholds of these churches, on the outside precious few…
Effie Caldarola St Charles de Foucauld became one of Catholicism’s newest saints on May 15, 2022. This Frenchman was murdered in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in 1916 where he lived in a hermitage among the remote Tuareg people. At this point, eyes may glaze over. A saint who was a hermit? In the Saharan desert? What possible…
An English Catholic bishop put people at risk by promoting a priest with a history of grooming children as his cathedral dean and by cultivating an “inappropriate” friendship with a convicted paedophile, a report has said. The 57-page report by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency, the Catholic child protection agency of the Catholic Church in…
The Diocese of Down and Connor, Co. Antrim, celebrated the centenary of Apostolic Work on June 17, marking their 100 years of supporting missionary priests, sisters and lay people in many countries around the world including Albania, Botswana, El Salvador, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Zimbabwe to name just a few.…
Targeting asylum seekers ‘unacceptable’ The Irish Inter-Church Committee has spoken out against “the targeting of people seeking protection in Ireland” in a statement released on World Refugee Day. Following multiple incidents of protests aimed to intimidate of asylum seekers, the committee, which represents 16 Churches in Ireland, made an appeal calling for an end to…
Dear Editor, It is worrying to see the statistics for the Killaloe diocese that half the parishes are served by priests over the age of 75 [The Irish Catholic – June 15, 2023]. It is a matter of grave concern that parishes may be closed. The parish is the centre of the Christian Community where…
Jem Sullivan 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16aPs 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19Rom 6:3-4, 8-11Mt 10:37-42 After Pentecost the Church returns to Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. The outpouring gift of the Holy Spirit begins a graced time of renewal in the power of God’s divine life and love that we each first received at Baptism.…
The possible ordination of women as deacons and the admission of married men to the priesthood will be key themes during a month-long synod gathering in Rome in October, the Vatican revealed this week. The preparatory document, known in Latin as an instrumentum laboris, brings together a number of themes and concerns that have emerged during…
Organisers of the Rally for Life, scheduled for Dublin next week, have called on TDs to listen to growing public concern from voters about a push to scrap the three-day wait before abortion. The three-day period of reflection was described by pro-life doctors last year as giving women “time to think”. Data released to Carol Nolan TD…