The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have led calls for the government to act on the nation’s economic woes as a famine of unprecedented scale threatens the nation. While signs of famine have been growing in recent months in the country’s north-east, fomented by the ongoing activities of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, the situation…
Courtney McGrail
When a priest fathers a child
All parents, regardless of who they are, have a duty to make themselves known to their child and support them, writes Tom Finegan
Giving thanks for grandparents
Children process in the Knock Basilica, Co. Mayo, on September 11, during the annual Catholic Grandparents Association pilgrimage. Photo: James Wright Photography.
Frank Duff and the New Evangelisation
The founder of the Legion of Mary continues to inspire writes Finola Kennedy
World News in Brief
Police continue inquiries into Notre Dame car incident Police in France are continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the placing of a car filled with gas canisters and diesel cans near to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Though the car was not rigged for an explosion, the suspicious placement of the vehicle led investigators to a female figure named on a terror…
Chinese arrest successor to late Zhejiang Bishop
Authorities in Wenzhou, in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, have arrested the Vatican-appointed coadjutor bishop following the death of his government-approved superior. Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin was reportedly lifted as the death drew near of the ailing 89-year-old Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang. Bishop Zhumin’s secretary, Fr Paul Jiang Sunian was also reportedly arrested. The move…
Vatican Roundup
Pope prays for nun murdered in Haiti Pope Francis has offered prayers for a Spanish missionary sister killed in Haiti. At the conclusion of events marking the canonisation of St Teresa of Kolkata in Rome on September 4, the Pope recalled Sr Isabel Sola Macas, murdered in a robbery on September 2. “At this moment, I would like to remember those…
Blessing the new school year
Ukrainian Catholic Fr Mykhailo Romaniuk blesses families from the Ukrainian community of Paris, France in St Volodymyr the Great Cathedral to mark the beginning of the new school year. Photo: CNS
Syrian Christians remain strong in faith – abducted priest
Fr Jacques Mourad, the Jesuit priest who escaped the clutches of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) after five months in captivity in 2015 has said the faith of Christians in Syria remains strong despite the conflict there. Now ministering in Sulaymaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Fr Mourad was formerly prior of the Monastery of Mar Elian in…
Extremist pressure on Indonesian Christians continues
In a sign of rising tensions for the Christian community in Indonesia, Muslim extremists have interrupted a Mass in Central Java, little over a week after a priest was attacked by an axe-wielding assailant at another celebration. During the celebration in the parish of St Peter Purwosari, near Surakarta, two men in the congregation of…