Tottenham Hotspur footballer Lucas Moura has praised God for his first hat-trick in Europe after defeating Huddersfield 4-0 over the weekend. The 26-year-old Brazilian player was the star of the match in the new Spurs stadium, after scoring three incredible goals against the opposing team. Speaking after the match, the footy whizz told Sky Sports:…

Catholics should see the hand of the Holy Spirit working in the ongoing transition from a clerical to a lay-led Church, a theologian who has just completed extensive research on Vatican II in Ireland, has said. Dr Gary Carville, who graduated with a PhD last month from Dublin City University on the topic of Ireland’s…

Working “fearlessly” for the restoration of “hope and good relations” must be done as well as praying for the healing of relationships the Catholic and CoI archbishops of Armagh have said. In a joint Easter message Archbishops Eamon Martin and Richard Clarke said that after the events of Good Friday the first disciples had a…

Suggestions that Catholics in the North might be forced to legally identify as British after Brexit are “a complete non-runner”, a prominent Northern priest has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fermanagh-based Fr Joe McVeigh said British failures to clarify the issue are complicating matters needlessly, and called on the Irish Government to stand up…

Clergy have denounced a 10-year ban from ministry of a paedophile priest, saying it is “bizarre” and “abhorrent” that he wasn’t dismissed from the clerical state completely. It has been reported that the Legion of Christ announced the Vatican has banned an Irish priest from public ministry for 10 years for the sexual abuse of…

Using the Pope’s encyclical on the environment to inform prayer and liturgy is “a proposal that the bishops can take up”, particularly as the language appeals to young people, the Bishop of Down and Connor has said. Speaking to The Irish Catholic during a conference on Laudato Si’, hosted by the Society of African Missionaries…