Spiritan missionaries in Brazil have described the Rio Olympics as a positive step for the country despite recent media coverage of protests there. Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week as the 2016 Games were underway, Fr Seán Doyle, who has ministered in Brazil for 43 years, acknowledged that there had been some local opposition…
Cardinal Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro holds the Olympic flame on August 5 as Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and former Brazilian volleyball player Isabel Barroso look on in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue. Photo: CNS
French authorities have moved to close down 20 mosques among a range of measures aimed at tackling radicalisation of Muslims. In the wake of a series of brutal attacks in France in recent weeks, including the savage murder of Fr Jacques Hamel in Normandy, the country’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve announced that 20 mosques known…
Understand the enemy and you can beat him, writes Paul Keenan
The pain and glory of the cathedrals
Italy has deported two Moroccan nationals for their parts in causing disturbances in churches. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano confirmed that a 25-year-old man who was arrested for throwing a crucifix to the ground in a church in Venice had been expelled alongside a 69-year-old who stormed into a church in Trentino shouting abusive comments about…
A photo of slain Father Jacques Hamel is seen among fl owers at a makeshift memorial in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, France. Photo: CNS
Members of the Muslim faith in France have attended Masses in a show of solidarity after the murder of Fr Jacques Hamel. Heeding a call from the French Council for the Muslim Religion, members joined with worshippers at Masses in defiance of the message of separation communicated by so-called Islamic State (ISIS) as it inspires…
The Venezuelan government has been accused of attempting to smear the Catholic Church as part of a tactic to keep beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro in power. With Venezuela’s economic crisis biting hard on the lives of ordinary citizens, the Church has increasingly become a lifeline for those struggling to gain everyday supplies. Meanwhile, the political…
Prayers for an end to terrorism “We come to you today to ask you to keep in peace the world and its people, to keep far away from it the devastating wave of terrorism, to restore friendship and instil in the hearts of your creatures the gift of trust and of readiness to forgive.” These were the words of Pope…