Renata is a Brazilian journalist who holds a Master’s degree in Journalism with first-class honours, completed in 2023. She joined The Irish Catholic in April 2024 as a multimedia journalist, where she brings a fresh, international perspective to storytelling through a range of digital platforms.
“HIV remains a major global public health issue, having claimed an estimated 42.3 million lives to date,” reads the World Health Organization’s website. In Brazil, the illness, at the time known as ‘gay plague’, was first diagnosed in men 1982, and in women the next year. By 1993, the number of infected was over 16,500…
Trócaire’s CEO Caoimhe de Barra is set to step down after nearly seven years in the position. She was appointed CEO in September 2018, 21 years after joining the organisation as a Campaigns Officer. Speaking about her position to The Irish Catholic last December, Ms de Bara said the role thought her “courage”, which is…
The Parish Priest of Kingscourt, Co. Cavan delivered a cheque of almost €28,000 to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem at a recent trip to the Holy Land. Also, on April 30, Fr Gerard McCormack said Mass in the empty tomb within The Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The money, which…
Down and Connor Diocese is organising a competition to select the cover art for this year’s Sacred Heart Novena booklet. All students from the diocese schools are able to participate and the prizes are £250 to the winner student, £250 to their school and their design printed on the booklet’s cover. This is the second…
The Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor took part in a one-day retreat in Lough Derg on May 4. This was the official opening for the One-Day Retreat season in the pilgrim site for the Jubilee Year. Archbishop Montemayor was accompanied by the Deputy Head of Mission Msgr Patrick Zay Han and welcomed…
A Brazilian artist painted a portrait of Pope Francis on Grafton Street on April 22, the day after the Holy Father died. João ‘Brutto’ Adnet is a painter from Rio based in Dublin and painted the Pope before. “I am not even Catholic, but Pope Francis was like Jesus. He was a revolutionary,” the artist…
Brazil celebrated 525 years of the first Catholic Mass in the country on April 26. Fr Severino Pinheiro da Silva Neto OFMCap, Chaplain for the Brazilian Community in Dublin said it is important to remember the day as it “reminds us of our identity, shows us who we are as it points at our origins.”…
In some way, Thérèse wanted me to have her book, because I would be aware of its significance, Renata Steffens hears. St Thérèse is one of the 37 Catholic saints recognised as a ‘Doctor of the Church.’ She is the second Carmelite nun to receive the distinction, after St Teresa of Ávila, and alongside with…
The Parish of the Annunciation, Rathfarnham celebrated this week 150 years since the foundation of the Church of Annunciation. To mark the important milestone, a Jubilee Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Paul Dempsey took place on April 27. Celebrating the Mass alongside Bishop Dempsey were Fr Martin Cosgrove PP and Fr Michael Coady…
A new documentary telling the story of a woman who transformed the Catholic Church in Mexico is now available in Ireland and UK on Amazon Prime. The new animated documentary Concepción tells the story of Conchita Cabrera de Armida, a Mexican lay woman “whose profound faith and apostolic mission transformed the Catholic Church and continued…