Record November homeless figures ‘disappointing’ – McVerry Trust Homelessness hit record levels for the fifth straight month in November 2022, with the Peter McVerry Trust calling the news “disappointing”. The figures, released on January 6, show that 11,542 people are in homeless accommodation across Ireland. The Homeless Report for November 2022 was issued by the…
Old rivalries take centre stage at Vatican trial Francesca Chaouqui, convicted by a Vatican court in 2016 of leaking confidential Vatican documents, was back on the stand before Vatican magistrates January 13, testifying in a long-running trial on financial misconduct. Ms Chaouqui, once a member of the now-defunct Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative…
The prolific writer had a particular love for one corner of Ireland, writes Fr Paul Clayton-Lea While on a journey back from Australia a few months ago I tuned into one of the offerings on the television and movie menu on the aircraft. It was a new series set in the US, and it opened…
Chai Brady, Ruadhán Jones and Jason Osborne Verbal attacks against the Catholic Church in the Dáil are inciting violent incidents targeting churches and parishioners Irish politicians have warned, adding that the Republic of Ireland is for very many Catholics now “a cold house where they feel they have to hide their faith”. The comments come…
Leading child protection campaigner Marie Collins has said plans to include survivors and victims of clerical abuse in developing the Church in Ireland’s response to victims’ needs is a “positive move”. However, the former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors warned that it would only work if it’s “not just window…
The Ukrainian Catholic community in Ireland prayed for peace in Ukraine and the world as they celebrated Christmas in Dublin on January 7. The Mass was “very emotional”, especially for those whose sons, brothers and husbands are still in Ukraine fighting Russia, Fr Vasyl Kornitsky told The Irish Catholic. “All of us Ukrainians, in Ukraine…
Bible dating back to 1615 auctioned in Belfast A bible dating back to 1615 went under the hammer in east Belfast January 10. Part of a sale at Bloomfield Auctions from a private collection in a gentleman’s residence, the aged tome travelled from Devon with its former owner Elizabeth Pole to what is now Massachusetts,…
The pastor of Holy Cross parish in the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, Fr Raúl Arrázola, denounced the violent intrusion of a group of policemen into his church on Sunday, January 1. In a statement to the Bolivian newspaper El Deber, Fr Arrázola said that a group of police officers “violated…
Michael Heinlein Since Pope Benedict’s death at age 95 on December 31, much ink has already been spilled detailing both his accomplishments and failures throughout his long life of service to the Church. In the end, though, all the coverage boils down to one question: ‘Who was the real Pope Benedict XVI?’ While it will…
The former archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, is reportedly under preliminary investigation for sexual assault on a vulnerable person, according to a report from the Archdiocese of Paris in late November 2022, French news channel BFMTV reported. According to the TV channel’s report, the allegations date back to 2011 and concern a vulnerable former parishioner,…