Chinese authorities are continuing their campaign of removing crosses in Zhejiang province, one of the latest being taken from a Catholic Church. Government officials removed the cross of Yongqiang parish’s Zhuangyuan Church just before dawn on February 25, two weeks after Zhejiang’s religious affairs director called for “religious stability” in the region ahead of the…
Olympic boxing champion Katie Taylor, known for her strong Christian faith, has said that Irish society is “open to everything except for God”. While the boxer has been mocked for her public expressions of faith, she said “it’s not something that really bothers me”, but that it was a “shame” that in the “country of…
Malaria and cold weather are worsening the suffering of Mozambican refugees who have fled to Malawi to escape violence at home, according to the Malawi director for Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). By mid-February there were more than 6,500 people in Mwanza district’s Kapise camp, 95km south of the national capital Lilongwe, with more arriving every…
The Master of the Rotunda Hospital has declined to say whether he believes expectant mothers whose babies have been diagnosed with Down Syndrome should be able to have abortions in Ireland. Asked by The Irish Catholic whether it is his view that women expecting babies with Down Syndrome should be allowed to have abortions in Ireland rather…
Persecution is drawing Christians closer – Pope The persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa has allowed once-divided Christians to draw closer together, Pope Francis has said. “Just as in the early Church the shedding of the blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so today the blood of the many martyrs of all the churches has…
Staff Reporter Religious sisters have said they remain undeterred by a bumpy start to their new vocations initiative, the Sisters Cafe. The inaugural pop-up cafe which offered young women an opportunity to hear the faith story of religious sisters and to talk to them in an informal setting, was held in the Dominican Adult Education Centre…
A man carries a cross ahead of a procession that includes Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, retired Auxiliary Bishop Dominic Luong of Orange, California, retired Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego of San Bernardino, California, and other Southern California bishops. The procession was part of the second annual Immigration Summit, which took place at Christ…
The episcopal ordination of Bishop Paul Tighe, a priest of the Dublin archdiocese, was celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State at a ceremony attended by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and several priests from the Archdiocese of Dublin and other Irish bishops. Bishop Tighe was appointed titular Bishop…
A Galway schoolgirl has said meeting Pope Francis was one of “the most amazing moments of my life” after her question was chosen out of 259 entries from children worldwide to appear in a new children’s book by the Pontiff. Clara Ó Gormáin (11), a pupil of the Jesuit Scoil Iognáid in Galway, appears in…
Bishop Denis Brennan has urged massgoers to invite a family member or friend to return to Church during the Year of Mercy. In his pastoral letter for the Jubilee Year, the Bishop of Ferns set out a number of suggestions as to how the faithful could best mark the jubilee in their diocese. The bishop’s…
Mags Gargan
Greg Daly
Cathal Barry