The Church’s “wobbling” over the question of ordaining women to the diaconate is a scandal, a leading theologian told a symposium at Trinity College Dublin. There “is not now and never has been any doctrinal finding that women cannot be ordained to the diaconate”, said Dr Phyllis Zagano, an expert on women in the diaconate.…
Dublin diocese has updated its privacy policy to defend itself from lawsuits under the right to privacy and GDPR laws. Some dioceses, including Archbishop Dermot Farrell’s former diocese of Ossory, have faced complaints from individuals alleging their rights were being breached by the dioceses keeping their baptismal certificate after requests for them to be destroyed.…
The Vatican’s 1995 list of significant films is very eclectic, catholic with a small ‘c’ (meaning broad and open minded). If one theme emerges strongly from the panoply, however, it’s the damage caused by war and the importance of human fraternity. I suppose it should hardly come as a surprise – many of those who…
The President of Ireland praised the Pope for repudiating the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’, writes Ruadhán Jones At the end of March, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins sent Pope Francis a long letter praising the Pope for his “strong solidarity of indigenous peoples”. Francis’ call to the Christian community “never to permit itself to be…
TD Michael Collins has hit back at the HSE for having “smeared” pro-life counselling services, after the HSE described them as “disingenuous organisations”. The Health Service Executive described a “disingenuous organisation” as one that offers “advice and supports that do not include information on abortion services”. In response, Deputy Collins criticised the HSE, saying an…
An AI study of conflict in the North shows religion is not to blame, writes Ruadhán Jones Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be seen as a threat to humanity, but a new study shows how it can be used to tackle real-life conflicts. Conducted by the Cambridge University’s interfaith Woolf Institute, a study of conflict in…
Easter hope is hard to see for survivors of an earthquake that left 50,000 dead and around 1.5 million homeless in Syria and Turkey two months ago, an Irish missionary based in Aleppo has said. Christians in the Syrian city celebrated the Easter triduum amid the ruins of homes destroyed by the earthquake and 12…
The murder of a Romanian woman in prostitution in Limerick is a reminder that the sex trade is “inherently violent, dangerous and harmful”, Irish charity Ruhama has said. Their statement comes after Geila Ibram, a 27-year-old woman from Romania, was found dead at a residence in Limerick on Tuesday, April 4. Habib Shamel, an Afghan…
Russell Crowe, star of recently-released The Pope’s Exorcist that was partly filmed in Ireland, said he thinks Ireland still has “a deep affection” for the Church. “When we were shooting, for sure, we were aware of being respectful of people’s beliefs,” the Hollywood star said in an interview coinciding with the film’s release over the…
Faith-based education is needed in the North to promote forgiveness, justice and compassion, a Belfast-born nun and principal has said. Her comments come as politicians and activists push for integrated – secular, State run – education in the North, calling faith-based schools “segregated” and accusing them of fostering division between Protestants and Catholics. However, Sr…