Staff reporter A short amination film has been made based on the life of a popular Irish saint. The Monster & The Saint, which tells the story of how St Senan battled sea creature the Cathach on Scattery Island, is set to be premiered in Co. Clare this weekend. The screenplay was written by Dermott Petty…

The city of Ciudad Juarez prepares for Pope Francis, writes Paul Keenan

Bishop Kevin Doran has accused the Government of being “incapable of any principle in the matter of respect for life”.  The Bishop of Elphin told The Irish Catholic that Taoiseach Enda Kenny was “simply trying to shift a monkey off his shoulder” by pledging to establish a citizens’ convention to discuss the repeal of the…

Greg Daly explores the themes and events of Pope Francis’ first African trip

Last year’s Rose of Tralee, Maria Walsh, has said that taking a lifetime Pioneer pledge was the “greatest decision of my life”. The former Philadelphia Rose was speaking at a No Name Club conference, a youth club that offers young people positive alternatives to alcohol. Maria Walsh was the No Name Club’s ‘Hostess of the Year’…

More than 1.8 million signatures – including 800,000 collected by Catholic organisations – were on a petition calling for action on climate change submitted by interfaith leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Heads of state gathered in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget for the summit, with leaders of Catholic organisations saying that…

During Pope Francis’ official visit to Kenya last Friday he met with Trócaire’s Country Director, Paul Healy and Programme Officer for Gender Based Violence and HIV, Catherine Khamali, in Kangemi slum, Nairobi. “In what was a very moving moment, the Pope was addressed by Pamela Akwede (a peace worker with a Trócaire partner organisation), who…

Media monitors at the 57-country Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have condemned the Vatican’s trial of two journalists and their alleged sources, and have called on the Holy See to honour its commitments to press freedom. “Our main concern is for the protection of confidential sources,” said Gunnar Vrang, spokesman for OSCE’s…

The Northern bishops have described themselves as “shocked and disturbed” by a Belfast High Court ruling that the region’s almost total ban on abortion breaches the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision was made in response to a legal challenge from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Mr Justice Mark Horner held that the…

Mali Church leaders insist friendship with Muslims will continue Relations between Catholics and Muslims in Mali will not be affected by the November 20 attack on Bamako’s Radisson Hotel, according to the secretary-general of Mali’s Catholic bishops’ conference. While conceding that the attack, in which at least 20 people were killed, was part of a wider Islamist campaign, Msgr Edmond Dembele recalled how…