A new book has been launched which reveals the faith experience of Irish people living abroad.  The collection of essays ‘Dissonant Voices: Faith and the Irish Diaspora’, edited by Conn MacGabhann, is written by people including Fr Des Wilson, Fr Joe McVeigh and Msgr Raymond Murray and came about from a conference of the same…

A commemorative concert was held in the RDS Concert Hall on Friday to celebrate 200 years since Venerable Mary Aikenhead founded the Religious Sisters of Charity. Among those who attended the concert were President Higgins’ wife, Sabina, former Lord Mayor, Councillor Vincent Jackson and a wide circle of families, friends and benefactors including a large…

Pope Francis called on people to replace their thirst for power with the joy of quiet and humble service, as he proclaimed four new saints, including the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux.  All of Christ’s disciples, especially its pastors, are called to model themselves after Jesus and “suppress our instinctive desire to exercise power…

There is a need for great courage and strength in order to reject hatred and to carry out acts of peace in the Holy Land, Pope Francis has said. Before reciting the Angelus at the weekend, the Pope expressed his concern for the increase in violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza and the West…

Don’t back jihadis, bishop begs British A Syrian archbishop has warned British politicians against backing Islamic militants in his country. Speaking at a meeting in the House of Lords, Greek Melkite Catholic Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo said Syria’s Christians supported Russia’s military intervention because it gave them fresh hope that the four-year war would end in a solution favourable…

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has hailed a report on Christian persecution as “a voice for the voiceless, from their prison cells and the places far from home where they have sought refuge”. ‘Persecuted and Forgotten?’, a report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2013-2015 is a major report by Aid to the Church in…

Pope Francis has apologised for scandals in Rome and the Vatican, without saying which scandals he has in mind. Speaking at his Wednesday audience in St Peter’s Square, he said that “Jesus is realistic and it is inevitable that scandals occur,” continuing, “But woe to the person who causes scandal. Before I start this catechesis,…

The Synod of Bishops on the Family is not being manipulated, rather the distortion rests in how it is being depicted or seen by a number of people, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has said. “I don’t think the synod itself has been tainted, but the lens through which it is being seen by many,…

Members of the Synod of Bishops would like the synod’s text to be clear, straightforward, and accessible so people can be encouraged to live the vocation of marriage and family life, and believe Scripture should be more prominent in the synod’s final text, including examples of holy couples and Jesus’ interactions with families. The 13…

Those affected by abuse need extra special care – expert Catholics who are too angry, disillusioned or afraid to return to the Church because of clerical sexual abuse need very special care, according to an observer attending the Synod of Bishops. Maria Harries, a member of Australia’s Truth, Justice, Healing Council said in an interview that abuse by clergy has led to a crisis…