The relic of the saint who was martyred to save the life of another prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland will be in Ireland for the first time in October.  The relic of St Maximilian Kolbe will be present at the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fairview, Dublin on October…

Columnist and writer John Waters will speak in Cork next month on the topic, ‘The End of Debate in Ireland’. The event is being organised by The Iona Institute.  Mr Waters will discuss how in Ireland today, “debate on many of the most important issues has been brought to a virtual halt. Token gestures are…

Staff Reporter A plan to let Dublin City University take on the running of the historic Catholic Central Library in Merrion Square, Dublin, now looks to be danger after the Annual General Meeting of the members of the library last week. New members were elected to the board of the library and a majority appear to…

The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have led calls for the government to act on the nation’s economic woes as a famine of unprecedented scale threatens the nation. While signs of famine have been growing in recent months in the country’s north-east, fomented by the ongoing activities of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, the situation…

Counselling and  faith were what got the principal of Columbine High School through the horrific events and aftermath of September 20, 1999 when 14 students of a high school  and a teacher were massacred by two shooters. Frank DeAngelis (62) came to prominence as the principal who stood with the school and rebuilt a broken…

Authorities in Wenzhou, in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, have arrested the Vatican-appointed coadjutor bishop following the death of his government-approved superior.  Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin was reportedly lifted as the death drew near of the ailing 89-year-old Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang.  Bishop Zhumin’s secretary, Fr Paul Jiang Sunian was also reportedly arrested. The move…

Michael Kelly in Bethlehem Archbishop Eamon Martin has appealed to Irish Catholics to show their support for hard-pressed Christians in the Holy Land by undertaking pilgrimages of support. Leading 175 Irish pilgrims in a historic ‘Christian Solidarity pilgrimage’ to the Holy Land this week, the Primate of All-Ireland used a meeting with the Mayor of Bethlehem, Vera…

Police continue inquiries into Notre Dame car incident Police in France are continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the placing of a car filled with gas canisters and diesel cans near to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Though the car was not rigged for an explosion, the suspicious placement of the vehicle led investigators to a female figure named on a terror…

Catholic worshippers in Indonesia have had a lucky escape after an attacker inspired by so-called Islamic State (ISIS) failed to detonate the explosives he was wearing during Sunday Mass.  The incident happened at St Joseph’s Church in Medan, the capital of the North Sumatra province last Sunday when a teenager sitting with other worshippers attempted…

A man has been arrested in the US state of Mississippi in connection with the murders of two nuns. Police have announced that Rodney Sanders will face murders charges relating to Sr Margaret Held and Sr Paula Merrill who were found stabbed in their home on August 25 The bodies of the nuns, both trained…