Prosecutors on the Greek island of Syros have filed felony charges against two Catholic clerics and six civilians in connection with the alleged embezzlement and money laundering of more than 3 million euros in diocesan funds. The indictments this month follow an investigation that began in late 2024 when Greece’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority uncovered suspicious…
Tetiana Metyk Ukrainian refugees carry deep spiritual wounds that, with God’s help, need healing. In the small chapel at Summerhill College in Sligo, around twenty parishioners are gathered for the Sunday Liturgy. Most are young or middle-aged, attending with their families. Little girls in bright dresses, fidgety boys occasionally dashing into the college corridor to…
In January 2025, Mount Melleray Abbey, a Cistercian (or Trappist) monastery nestled at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains of Co. Waterford, closed its doors after nearly 200 years. Once home to over 150 monks – a bustling hub of agricultural and spiritual life – the abbey dwindled down to just six monks at the…
As the synodal journeys—universal and local—have been undertaken, it is often noted that ‘synodality’ is Vatican II in practice. As Massimo Faggioli puts it, our operating system is the Church’s self-understanding that emerged from the Council’s dialogues and documents. More than sixty years on, pastoral practice and theological reflection continue to inspire and deepen this…
We live in restless times filled with tensions between persons, between nations. We can hardly keep up with developments in technology, politics, society — it feels like everything is in motion. And the Church, too, is on a journey of change and renewal. For some, that change feels unsettling. For others, it is exciting. But…
Over a month on from the death of Br Kevin Crowley OFM Cap, the Capuchin Day Centre’s Manager Alan Bailey pays a personal tribute to the friar ‘who practised what he preached’ The legendary heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali is quoted as saying that “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here…
Vocations have fallen drastically, and many parishes are now supported by clergy from countries such as India and Nigeria, writes Eamonn Coyle Ireland, a nation with over 10,000 years of human habitation, has been continually shaped by waves of migration, conquest, and cultural evolution. From its earliest settlers in the Mesolithic period to modern globalisation,…
Editor’s note Three weeks ago we featured this interview with Fr John Murray by columnist Martina Purdy and want to share it again. Fr Murray is recovering after a brutal attack as he heard confession in Downpatrick. Fr Murray had just retired from his role as PP, was recovering from illness and was preparing to…
For more than two decades, a prominent sister-led coalition has raised awareness at the United Nations on a host of pressing global issues – most recently on homelessness – and made its mark on deliberations at the world body. But now the coalition will end its ministry by the end of the year. UNANIMA International is a…
There was a time, not long ago, when elite sport demanded sacrifice with little regard for the soul behind the jersey. No nutritionist to flag sudden weight loss. No psychologist to question a dip in confidence. No manager asking how your life outside the white lines was going. Tony Óg Regan remembers those years well.…
Martina Purdy