Christmas 2009 was a painful time for the Church in Ireland, writes Joe O’Brien
Courtney McGrail
The year in film
We need a solid film about the contemporary church that will ask the hard questions and answer them fairly, writes Aubrey Malone
Availability of gluten-free Communion hosts
Dear Editor, We regularly hear biblical references to the ‘goodness’ of wheat, but for coeliacs wheat is not all it is cracked up to be. What are the chances of ‘no gluten’ or ‘low gluten’ breads being used for Mass? I have had challenging encounters both in Ireland and abroad as my teenage daughter and…
Festive smiles launch fundraising fast
Eabha (3) and Katie Ann (7) Moloney from Rosscarbery at the opening of the SHARE crib at Daunt Square, Cork which marks the beginning of a ‘Fast & Fundraising’ campaign by the young people of SHARE (Students Harness Aid for the Relief of the Elderly), which will run in Cork City and shopping centres in…
Church apologises for failing victims
A representative of the Diocese of Down & Connor told the Historical Abuse Inquiry in the North that some children in the care of the Church were “tragically and catastrophically” failed. Fr Tim Bartlett told the sitting in Banbridge courthouse, Co. Down that the diocese would “not wish to offer any excuse at this stage.…
PLC slam ‘mild’ HSE report on ‘horrendous’ practises
The Pro Life campaign has strongly criticised a recently published HSE report into state-funded pregnancy agencies which makes recommendations but contains no sanctions for what the PLC claim are “horrendous” and “life-endangering” practices. The HSE audit was commissioned following an undercover investigation in 2012 which revealed evidence that Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) run clinics…
Christmas calls us to action – archbishops
A joint Christmas message from the Archbishops of Armagh Richard Clarke and Eamon Martin
Vatican requests wide input on the 2015 family synod
To help set the agenda for the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family, the Vatican is sending the world’s Catholic bishops’ conferences a list of questions on a range of topics, including matters of marriage and sexuality that proved especially controversial at the 2014 family synod. Together with the final report of the 2014…
Pope preparing to create new cardinals in February
Pope Francis will create new cardinals on February 14, following a two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals that will discuss reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, among other issues. The names of the new cardinals are likely to be announced in mid-January, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ has said. If Pope Francis respects the limit…
Pope declined meeting with Dalai Lama
Pope Francis declined to meet the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China, the Vatican has said. The exiled Tibetan leader, who was in Rome at the weekend for a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize winners, had requested a meeting with the Pontiff. A Vatican spokesman said that although the Pope held him…