An Taoiseach Enda Kenny exchanges gifts with Pope Francis during a private audience at the Vatican. Photo: CNS

Staff reporter While much of the commentary around the Taoiseach’s meeting with Pope Francis on Monday has focused on plans for the Pontiff’s trip to Ireland, discussions were much more wide-ranging – according to the Vatican. Mr Kenny met with the Pope on Monday for 27 minutes in the Pope’s library in the Apostolic Palace.…

More details of the horrendous suffering of Christians at the hands of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq have been released. World Watch Monitor, which examines anti-Christian persecution worldwide, has reported on cases of torture and crucifixion carried out by members of the terror group. Among testimonies gathered is that of Karlus, a 29-year-old who…

The historical religious drama Silence has been screened at the Vatican. In the company of legendary director Martin Scorcese, some 400 priests and invited guests attended the screening at the Pontifical Oriental Institute for the Jesuits on November 29. Based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, Silence follows the…

More prelates intervene in Amoris Laetitia row The row centred on the Pope’s encyclical on the family, Amoris Laetitia, rumbles on. Following last week’s intervention by four cardinals seeking to question Pope Francis’ knowledge of Church teaching on the family, and the rebuke by the Pontiff and a subsequent invitation from Cardinal Blase Cupich of…

The number of homeless people sleeping rough in Dublin has risen by more than 50% since last year, according to Fr Peter McVerry. A count by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive last week found that 140 individuals were sleeping on the streets and in doorways, compared to 91 counted at the same time last year. …

The theme for World Youth Day 2019 in Panama will be “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38), the Dicastery for Laity, the Family, and Life has announced.  This means that World Youth from 2017 will have Mary as a central figure for…

The abortion rate in the US is at its lowest level since before the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision to broaden access to terminations, latest figures reveal. In its ‘surveillance report’ to the year 2013, the nation’s Centres for Disease Control (CDC) reveals that 47 states have experienced a 20% drop in terminations…

Mass-finder App is launched A new app to help the faithful locate the nearest Mass or confession service to them has been launched. A collaboration between Scotland’s Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh and technology company Musemantik, the app uses GPS satellite technology to highlight sites within a given diocese to guide users to Churches…

A documentary examining the impact of the 1916 Easter Rising in Australia and on Ireland’s Archbishop Daniel Mannix, the then Archbishop of Melbourne, is now available on the RTÉ Player.  Michael, They’ve Shot Them was filmed by a Melbourne-based Irish production company founded by Eoin Hahessy and relates how the Rising and its aftermath fed…