The proposed transfer of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group to a new company independent of the Religious Sisters of Charity is subject to Vatican approval, The Irish Catholic understands. The sisters announced this week that they intend to end an involvement in healthcare that dates back to 1834. Although the now mostly elderly sisters no…

Woman tells of eight-year long ordeal Pope Francis has been called on to visit a direct provision centre during his expected trip to Ireland next year, in order to highlight the treatment of asylum seekers. Fr Paddy Byrne, a curate in Portlaoise parish who ministers to the residents of the Montague Hotel, a direct provision…

The Pope has dubbed the latest attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt as “another act of ferocious violence”. The most recent religious terror attack in the country left 29 dead and about 25 wounded when a bus taking the Christians to a remote monastery was fired upon. The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the…

Priest calls on Pope Francis to visit direct provision centre in Ireland Pope Francis has been called on to visit a direct provision centre during his expected visit to Ireland next year, in order to highlight the treatment of asylum seekers. Fr Paddy Byrne, a curate in Portlaoise parish who ministers to the residents of…

An Irish senator has hit out at critics who use Protestants as an excuse to get rid of the Angelus. David Norris spoke in a Seanad meeting last week saying that he strongly rejects claims that Protestants want to do away with the Angelus, dubbing it “political correctness gone mad”. “Protestants are used as a…

Mags Gargan and Chai Brady New missionaries will ‘inject new life’ Irish parishioners are being urged to embrace new thinking and a new wave of missionaries from overseas as a way to revitalise the Church in Ireland. Decades after Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich provoked derision in the 1980s by saying the Church in Ireland would…

Chai Brady President Michael D. Higgins has expressed the hope that Pope Francis will travel North of the border during an expected visit to Ireland next summer. In a 15-minute meeting with Mr Higgins in Rome the Pope said the prospect of a visit to the North was a possibility. Mr Higgins told the Pontiff…

An Irish priest known for his work protecting children in danger of trafficking and abuse has briefed the Oireachtas on the depraved tortures faced by vulnerable young people. Fr Shay Cullen, a Columban missionary, has been fighting horrific treatment of women and children in the Philippines, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize…

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has expressed his “humanitarian concern” for Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen still awaiting trial in Egypt after four years of imprisonment. The Archbishop of Dublin used the visit of Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria as an opportunity to highlight the 21-year-old’s case in front of the Egyptian ambassador during a meeting at…

Ireland will provide €6m to two struggling African countries that have been ravaged by war and chronic poverty. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR) are among the poorest countries in the world, with food insecurity and malnutrition affecting 6.4 million people. Each country will receive €3m from Ireland through…