The family of Cork nurse Karen Buckley, who was murdered in Scotland last year, have thanked their parish priest for being a “rock of support”. In a statement released for her one-year anniversary Mass in Analeentha, Co. Cork her family said they had received thousands of Mass cards, flowers and wreaths from “all over Ireland,…

Archbishop Eamon Martin and Dean Colum Curry presented over 300 young people with the Muiredach Cross Award and the Pope John Paul II Award at the sixth annual Armagh Diocesan Faith Award Ceremony in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh. The Muiredach Cross Award is aimed at the younger school students in the archdiocese as a…

Pop superstar Katy Perry is now free to buy a convent in Los Angeles after a judge ruled against the nuns’ attempt to sell the property to a restaurateur. The hit singer’s offer last year to buy the Roman villa on an eight-acre hilltop estate for $14.5 million (€12.7 million) was rejected by the Sisters…

The three Syrian refugee couples brought to Rome from Greece by Pope Francis have described their experience as being like a dream come true and said they look forward to returning home. The couples and their children were selected with the help of the Sant’Egidio community, and were brought to Rome on the papal plane…

The number of diocesan priests in Ireland has plummeted by more than 500 in just 10 years, according to the latest official statistics. The most significant fall off was between the years 2013 and 2014, when the number of priests dropped by 120 in the 12-month period. Vatican figures show that while there were 3,141…

The head of the US-based Catholic News Service (CNS) has stepped down, following online claims that he was “promoting the LGBT agenda”. Tony Spence, director and editor-in-chief of the US bishops-owned news agency since 2004, had in the days prior to his resignation commented on his Twitter account about legislation where LGBT rights and religious…

Staff Reporter A priest who celebrated a Mass at which a gay flag was draped across the altar has refused to speak about the event. Jesuit Fr Fergus O’Donoghue presided at the liturgy in Dublin’s Avila Carmelite Centre at the weekend. The Mass included a delegation from the United States led by Sr Jeannine Gramick, who…

Uruguayan Church’s ‘pain and shame’ at unpunished abuse Uruguay’s bishops have apologised for sexual abuses committed by priests 20 years ago that went unpunished because the country’s statute of limitations expired. A statement on the website of the South American country’s bishops’ conference says the Uruguayan Church feels “pain and shame” about “abhorrent acts committed by people who had promised to serve…

The Irish bishops’ overseas aid agency has criticised Europe’s response to the refugee crisis, as several hundred people are reported to have drowned off the coast of Egypt on Sunday. Up to 500 people are estimated to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to illegally cross from Libya to Italy. This latest tragedy coincides…

Nigerian bishops have urged the government to hasten its efforts to free 219 schoolgirls who were abducted by insurgents two years ago. Bishops Matthew Audu of Lafia and George Dodo of Zaria called on officials to boost intelligence gathering efforts and muster the political will to find the girls, who in April 2014 were taken…