Fr Jacques Hamel ‘a martyr’ – Pope Pope Francis has hailed Fr Jacques Hamel, as “a martyr” during a Mass for the murdered French priest. Referring to the wider suffering of Christian communities in various parts of the world, the Pope said: “Today there are Christians murdered, tortured, imprisoned, and slaughtered because they do not deny Jesus Christ. In this history,…
Courtney McGrail
Bishop offers heartbreaking eyewitness account of Libya’s ‘illegal’ migrants
The Coadjutor of the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli in Libya has offered a snapshot account of the situation in the troubled country and the “distorted perception” illegal migrants have of Europe. Currently in Rome, Bishop George Bugeja told the Fides news agency that while the situation in Libya “is generally calm” there are occasional clashes…
World News in Brief
Cardinal clarifies homily on ‘conquest’ of Europe Austria’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has issued a statement clarifying a homily interpreted on social media as predicting an Islamic conquest of Europe. During celebrations in Vienna on September 11 to mark the feast day of the victory of Christians over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the prelate asked if…
Irish nun to receive President’s Service Award
An Irish missionary nun is to receive a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her lifetime of work in Sierra Leone and her courageous efforts in co-ordinating a response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak there. Sr Mary Sweeney, a Sister of St Joseph of Cluny and a native of Co. Donegal, has worked for over 40…
Newspapers allege Vatican plot to infiltrate Muslim world
Newspapers in Turkey have claimed that the exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen is “a Trojan horse of the Vatican” in a conspiracy to spread Christianity across the region. Already demonised in the country as the main figure behind the failed July coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the US-based cleric has now become the subject…
Heading for pastures new
Msgr Amaury Medina Blanco, who has served Pope Francis as counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Apostolic Nunciature in Dublin the past three years left Dublin this week to take up a new appointment at the Apostolic Nunciature in Brazil. He is pictured at a farewell reception at the Nunciature in Dublin on…
Auschwitz was not ‘in Poland’
Dear Editor, In an article on the visit of the relics of St Maximilian Kolbe to Ireland (IC 15/09/2016) you state that “the relic of the saint who was martyred to save the life of another prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland will be in Ireland for the first time in October”. I would…
What price truth?
Dear Editor, It is now generally stated that Mrs Hillary Clinton and Mr Donald J Trump are among the least honest and least trusted persons in the US. Such is the skewed coverage of the Presidential Election by most of the media, particularly the detractors of Donald Trump, that the media in general will soon…
NWCI abortion decision comes after extensive lobbying
Paul Keenan and Susan Gately The decision of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) to campaign for abortion in the event of a referendum is a culmination of 15 years of activism by pro-abortion elements, a survey of recent annual meetings reveals. As far back as 2001, when the Fianna Fáil-led government proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn…
What hopes for the future of ‘Y’?
Dear Editor, Does anyone ever consider what it must feel like to live in an intolerant, prejudiced society that constantly denies your right to exist; to sit silently in company while all around you people are baying for your blood? Every voice, every politician, journalist and media outlet are loud and constant in their demands…