Staff Reporter It may have been a coincidence or a moment of singular grace, but few could fail to remark on the significance that Portugal’s win in the Eurovision Song Contest at the weekend – the first in that country’s 49 attempts – came on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. As Salvador Sobral…

The commission investigating alleged visions of Our Lady at Medjugorje has reportedly recommended early apparitions be accepted as authentic, but casts doubt upon later claims of visions. According to reports in the Italian media this week, the overwhelming majority of the 15-member body voted in favour of recognising the supernatural nature of the first seven…

The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said it is confident that polls showing support for abortion would change rapidly in the event of any referendum “as people start to reflect on what the changes would mean in practice and how it would open the door to abortion on wide-ranging circumstances”. A survey by Behaviour &…

President Michael D. Higgins is expected to meet with Pope Francis during a visit to Rome next week. The visit, which is set to take place in the Vatican’s Papal Library, will be the first private meeting between the two heads of state. President Higgins previously met the Pontiff at the papal inauguration ceremony in…

Pop superstar Rita Ora has revealed that one of her proudest moments was performing at the Vatican last year, at a ceremony to mark the canonisation of Mother Teresa, a fellow native of Kosovo. “Oh, it was beautiful,” she said. “To hear my voice in that room – incredible reverb, by the way – was…

Staff Reporter The Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin has said he was “honoured” to take part in the Darkness into Light walk at the weekend to raise awareness of suicide. Beginning at 4.15am in towns and cities across the world, over 150,000 people walked from darkness into dawn light in a movement against suicide which…

Staff reporter Rev. Earl Storey has been appointed as the new editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette. He replaces long-serving editor Canon Ian Ellis who is stepping down after 16 years in the role. Rev. Storey, who was ordained for the Church of Ireland in 1982, will take up the new role on June…

Archbishop Thomas White RIP The death has occurred of a former priest of the Diocese of Ossory and Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Thomas A. White. The former Papal Nuncio to Rwanda, Ethiopia and New Zealand, passed away on Sunday, May 7. Archbishop White studied for the priesthood in St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, and later in Rome…

Staff Reporter Singer Dolores O’Riordan has revealed how her mother’s faith has helped her through tough times and one of the highlights of her career was taking her mum to meet Pope John Paul II. After a whirlwind period at the tops of the charts with over 40 million in sales worldwide, the lead singer…

Youth ministries working on a national level in Ireland have reported a new openness from parish priests and pastoral councils to engage with young people. Tony Foy, Executive Director of Net Ministries, told The Irish Catholic that in recent years they have had to send their youth evangelisation teams to Scotland because they couldn’t find…