A Columban missionary who was held for ransom by militants in the Philippines has raised doubts on reports that the leader of the kidnapper gang was killed by security forces at the weekend. Fr Michael Sinnott, originally from Co. Wexford, was snatched outside his house in Pagadian City in October 2009 and held hostage for…

Weekend Dublin shoppers were recently introduced to Pope Francis’ message of mercy thanks to a team of parish volunteers working from a ‘Mercy pop up shop’. A rota of parishioners spent a sunny Saturday working from a former hairdressers in the main shopping area of Ballyfermot as part of the ‘24 hours for the Lord’…

Claims by EU politicians that it cannot cope with the Mediterranean migrant crisis have been dismissed as “rubbish” by special UN envoy Peter Sutherland. Irishman Mr Sutherland, a former Attorney General, who now serves as the UN special representative for migration said it was “utterly excessive” to claim that it would be “impossible for a…

The canonisation of Mother Teresa will be formally approved on March 15, the Vatican has announced. The Albania-born nun, who studied briefly in Rathfarnham, Dublin, when she was 18 before moving to India, and who established a community in west Belfast’s Ballymurphy in 1971, is to be canonised along with four others.  The March 15…

Pakistan remains ill-served by its blasphemy law, writes Paul Keenan Two very different ‘heroes’ were celebrated in Pakistan last week, their differing yet converging stories being instantly illustrative of the religious gulf that continues to pervade in that country. On February 29, news filtered from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi that Mumtaz Qadri had been hanged…

Since 1889, Hayes & Finch have been manufacturing and supplying the finest quality products to churches in every corner of Ireland. In 1943, the Second World War forced the company to regrettably put their Dublin factory into mothballs due to world shortage of raw materials required to maintain production. The company was anxious to regain…

Volunteers with the Irish Cancer Society getting their flowers ready for sale for Daffodil Day tomorrow (Friday), Ireland’s longest running and biggest fundraising day. www.cancer.ie

Mags Gargan, Cathal Barry and Greg Daly Dioceses across the island of Ireland have reported large numbers participating in Pope Francis’ worldwide promotion of the Sacrament of Confession as part of the ‘24 Hours for the Lord’ initiative which took place last weekend. In Limerick Fr Tony O’Riordan SJ, who was commissioned as a ‘Missionary of Mercy’ by Pope Francis, celebrated…

Connecting dissident violence in the North to commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising is too “simplistic” according to a leading political historian. In the wake of the attempted murder of a prison officer in Belfast, CofI Bishop of Down & Dromore, Harold Miller said he was afraid dissident republicans will attempt further assaults in the…

Tusla has expressed misgivings about the Catholic nature of the ethos of the family centre in Boyle EXCLUSIVE The State has threatened to withdraw funding from a Catholic family life centre unless its faith-based ethos is diluted, The Irish Catholic can reveal. The Irish Catholic understands that Tusla – the child and family agency –…