Category: News

Catholic principals praised for equality stance

The North’s Minister of Education has praised Catholic school principals for their “vision and commitment to changing education” and their campaign against academic selection. Education Minister, John O’Dowd, was speaking at the annual conference of the Catholic Principals Association (CPA) in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on Friday. He told the over 300 people at…

Synod exhortation expected by end of month

Staff Reporter The Pope’s much anticipated exhortation following the Synod of Bishops on the Family is expected to be published by the end of the month. The key document, which will contain official Church teaching, is expected to address controversial issues such as whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion. Pope Francis has said that…

Slain Sisters of Charity are martyrs, says bishop

The bishop responsible for overseeing the area in which four Missionary Sisters of Charity were murdered on Friday, March 4 has said he is sure they died as martyrs.  “For me there is no doubt that the sisters have been victims of hatred – hatred against our faith”, Bishop Paul Hinder, who serves as apostolic…

World News in Brief

Maronite bishops welcome ecumenical embrace The embrace in Cuba between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and their subsequent Joint Declaration represent “an ecumenical and prophetic step”, the bishops of the Maronite Church have said. Recognising how the February 12 encounter had been “prompted by a shared sense of responsibility”, the Maronite bishops thanked Pope Francis for…

Catholic schools body has not endorsed transgender programme

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has distanced itself from suggestions that it supports a programme aimed at 11 and 12 year olds which endorses the view that children can change sex. A pilot programme entitled ‘Altogether Now!’, currently being tested in some primary schools, describes itself as “supported by” an advisory group whose members…