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…

The independent watchdog which monitors handling of abuse allegations in the Irish Church has seen its “sharpest decline” in allegations since it started keeping records. The National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) received 86 new allegations during the period 2016/2017. The allegations include 72 relating to sexual…

Organisers have issued an appeal for at least 3,000 volunteers to assist with the planning and organising of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and expected papal visit to Dublin next year. More than 1,500 people have expressed an interest in helping, but twice that number is needed to form part of the operational team…

Staff reporter A social media campaign by the Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin asking for suggestions for the 2017 parish Christmas gift has been an “outstanding success”. Bishop Denis Nulty, who made the appeal in a video, told The Irish Catholic it was the first time the diocese had tried “this way of engaging with…

Staff reporter The Northern bakery run by a Christian couple who last year lost a discrimination case over refusing to make a cake advocating same-sex marriage saw their profits rise in 2016. Controversy around Daniel and Amy McArthur’s Ashers Baking Company’s 2014 refusal to make a cake bearing the slogan ‘Support gay marriage’ has not…

Draft educational legislation would destroy faith-based schools, religious freedom think-tank The Iona Institute has warned. It was responding to the ‘Equal Participation in Schools Bill’ proposed by Ruth Coppinger TD. The draft proposes to take away the right of denominational schools to have a religious ethos and would require religious education to take place outside…

Fr Mathew statue not returning to O’Connell Street A statue of Fr Theobald Mathew, founder of the temperance movement in Ireland, will not be returned to O’Connell Street after the completion of the Luas works in Dublin. The statue, erected in 1893, cannot be accommodated in the new transport layout and discussions are ongoing between…

Campaigner Marie Collins has welcomed praise for her from Pope Francis as support for her work and her reasons about stepping down from the Vatican child protection commission earlier this year. “It was nice to hear the Pope’s comments about myself, and it is I suppose a validation of the work I’ve done and the…

The Church in Ireland now looks to the next generation of priests for renewal, according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Speaking at the priestly ordination of Edward Cosgrove SJ in the chapel of Milltown Park on Sunday, the Archbishop of Dublin told the Jesuit he had “become a priest at a new time in the history…

Staff Reporter A young rugby player has revealed the strength he receives from his faith, speaking at a Mass to celebrate sport in his parish in Co. Sligo. Connacht prop and Irish under-20 squad member, Conan O’Donnell, told St Patrick’s in Strandhill that “God is important in my life”. “My faith was nurtured by regular…