Irish missionaries working in Pakistan have said they fear the death toll will significantly rise in the country following a devastating earthquake. The 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous area on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday. “Snows have come early this year so logistically it will be a very difficult rescue and…

A leading homelessness charity has criticised as “inadequate” the Government’s aim to have just 22 of the planned 500 modular homes on stream by Christmas. A spokesperson for the Peter McVerry Trust told The Irish Catholic that “it is quite disappointing”.  “There are question marks around how quickly they are going to be rolled out.…

Top-earning officials of the Irish Bishops’ Conference are being paid up to €130,000.00 per year, according to latest accounts. Accounts for the ‘hierarchy general purposes trust’ for 2014 reveal that one employee in the Church’s central administration is paid between €120,000 and €130,000 per year, a second is paid between €110,000 and €120,000 and a…

Up to 8,000 Christians – Protestants and Catholics – in Indonesia’s Aceh province have fled their homes following an arson attack on a Christian church. Violent clashes broke out when a group of Islamic fundamentalists attempted to burn down a second church in Aceh Singkil district, leading to one person being killed and dozens being…

Pro-life groups have criticised Amnesty International’s latest campaign using celebrities to call for legalising abortion in Ireland. Graham Linehan, one of the writers of Father Ted, and his wife Helen have collaborated with Amnesty on a short campaign film calling on the Government to repeal the Eighth Amendment. Mrs Linehan had an abortion in 2004…

Pope Francis has apologised for scandals in Rome and the Vatican, without saying which scandals he has in mind. Speaking at his Wednesday audience in St Peter’s Square, he said that “Jesus is realistic and it is inevitable that scandals occur,” continuing, “But woe to the person who causes scandal. Before I start this catechesis,…

An independent TD has accused RTÉ of “watering down” its longstanding presentation of the Angelus. Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae criticised “any change in the way the Angelus is presented” following the broadcaster’s major revamp of the twice daily minute-long reflection. Noting that the Angelus had been aired “for decades”, Mr Healy-Rae warned that “any watering…

The Synod of Bishops on the Family is not being manipulated, rather the distortion rests in how it is being depicted or seen by a number of people, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has said. “I don’t think the synod itself has been tainted, but the lens through which it is being seen by many,…

The Bishop of Derry has warned that the Church is “failing in its mission” by not reflecting the female perspective in its structures, while Baroness Nuala O’Loan has called for an amendment of Canon Law to allow women to participate in decision-making. At a Mass to mark the quincentenary of St Teresa of Avila’s birth,…

Members of the Synod of Bishops would like the synod’s text to be clear, straightforward, and accessible so people can be encouraged to live the vocation of marriage and family life, and believe Scripture should be more prominent in the synod’s final text, including examples of holy couples and Jesus’ interactions with families. The 13…