Concern has been expressed that the churches in the nation’s capital may become “virtually inaccessible” if Dublin City Council pushes ahead with plans for a pedestrian plaza at College Green. A number of city centre representative bodies have opposed the controversial plaza that will ban private cars from the area outside Trinity College. Fr Christopher…

Nigeria’s plight at the hands of Boko Haram militants has created one of the worst and most neglected humanitarian crises in the world, a leading campaigner has said. Speaking at a conference in Washington DC, Elijah Brown, executive vice president of the 21st Century Wilberforce Institute, described the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram as “the most lethal…

The new moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has said that bigotry is common in his denomination and something he struggled to overcome in himself when asked to minister in Dublin as a young man. Speaking on Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster, Dr Frank Sellar, who was elected moderator in February but took…

The US has crossed a line from being a society that cares for the vulnerable to one that seeks to be rid of those whose suffering is deemed inconvenient, the archbishop of Los Angeles has said. Criticising the introduction of a new “End of Life Options” law allowing doctors in California to prescribe lethal medications…

Bishop Phonsie Cullinan has said he is “totally opposed” to Amnesty International speaking in Catholic schools given the organisation’s support for a liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion laws, which he described as “bizarre”. As a former supporter of Amnesty’s work, the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore said he was “saddened by the direction in which the…

Three men have been arrested in relation to a sectarian mob attack on the homes of Coptic Christians in the Egyptian province of Minya. The arrests bring to 14 the number of people arrested since the May 20 attack, in which the most serious incident involved an elderly Coptic woman being stripped naked, abused and…

Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Flanagan said the Government “would hope that were Pope Francis to visit Ireland, he would also take the opportunity to visit Northern Ireland”.

PWC asked to retain a role in Vatican audit After suspending an external audit led by a leading international firm, the Vatican has signed a new contract asking only that it provide assistance and consulting services. The suspension in April of the external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) “was not due to considerations regarding the integrity or the quality of PwC’s work, nor is…