The World Meeting of Families is inviting couples to share special tokens of love with a difference for St Valentine’s Day this year. Following Pope Francis’ calls to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in a more meaningful way, WMOF2018 is inviting couples to think beyond the traditional box of chocolates or bunch of flowers to gifts…

The failure to institute a redress scheme for children who lived in Northern residential homes has been described as “deeply regrettable” by the Diocese of Down and Connor. Sir Anthony Hart’s Historical Institutional Abuse (HIAI) Report, published in January 2017, had examined the provision of care in a number of residential homes between 1922 and…

Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry has praised the announcement of a ceasefire by a dissident republican group. Óglaigh na hÉireann which has been responsible for a number of attacks, including the attempted murder of Catholic PSNI member Peadar Heffron in 2010, declared the ceasefire yesterday afternoon following negotiations with trade unionists. Bishop McKeown said: “I…

The Pope has called on journalists to search for the truth in an era characterised by ‘fake news’. The comments come after the unprecedented bad press the Pontiff faced during his recently-concluded South American tour where he visited Chile and Peru. Fake news grabs people’s attention “by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and…

Priest pleads with bishop for more exorcists in Ireland   Strange occurrences and even demonic possession have caused a leading Irish expert to call on Church leaders to appoint a team of exorcists to cope with what he sees as a rising tide of evil in the country. While for many exorcisms of those possessed…

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 Brady   Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has praised Cranberries’ frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan as an artist of deep spirituality after her sudden death in London on Monday. He said her “rise to stardom gave a huge amount of belief to young people locally at the time. She was a true child of Limerick; talented, honest,…

A war of words has broken out between the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) leadership team and priests from the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, after Fr Gerard Breen, secretary to the diocese’s council of priests, wrote saying the council “strongly disagreed” with a card the ACP sent to clergy advising them on what to…

A group of bishops from around the world is visiting the Holy Land to remind Christians there that they are not forgotten by their fellow Christians, Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown has said. Bishop McKeown is visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories as part of an international delegation of bishops from Europe, North America and Africa.…

News In Brief   Ireland has won the ‘Arms Control Person of the Year’ 2017 award for the Government’s leadership during talks relating to disarmament. The disarmament delegation of Ireland won the award for their leadership during the negotiations of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney…

News In Brief   The mother of well-known hunger striker Bobby Sands was remembered as a principled and devout woman by her daughter. Rosaleen Sands died last week aged 95 and her funeral was held in St Oliver Plunkett’s Church in Blackrock, Louth. According to The Irish News her daughter, Bernadette Sands-McKevitt said at the…