Pope Francis has thanked the authors of a new book published by The Irish Catholic which acts as a study guide to the Pontiff’s landmark encyclical on the environment.  Written by theologian Fr Eamon Conway and The Irish Catholic journalist Cathal Barry, Praise Be To You serves as a companion for readers of Laudato Si’…

US cardinal warns against ‘older brother syndrome’  Those who live the faith assiduously must resist temptations to feel neglected or upset by the Synod of Bishops’ emphasis on those who struggle more, according to Washington, DC’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl. Recalling the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, the cardinal said, “Yes, there could be…

Campaigners have condemned the absence of concrete measures in next year’s Budget to prevent the spiralling homelessness crisis. Mike Allen, Focus Ireland’s Director of Advocacy, told The Irish Catholic that: “We were hoping there’d be measures to deal with the ever rising tide of families becoming homeless, but the Government hasn’t put in any significant…

If the Synod of Bishops were to vote on whether divorced and remarried Catholics should be allowed return to Communion, they would probably reject the proposal by almost two to one, according to an Australian archbishop. Brisbane’s Archbishop Mark Coleridge has said in an interview that he suspects the vote would be roughly 65% against…

A documentary following the work of an Irish missionary sister supporting people with HIV/AIDS has been nominated for the Kenyan version of the Oscars.  Nurtured with Love, a video on the work undertaken by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa in the Love and Hope Centre in Nakuru, Kenya, has been nominated for this year’s…

Bishops need to show the Pope they are up to the challenge of leadership, writes Cathal Barry

Television icon Oprah Winfrey has credited her church upbringing for being the catalyst for her successful global media career. The American talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist, was born into poverty in rural Missisippi to a teenage single mother. Speaking in a video to promote her new series Belief, which is about the “ongoing…

The Church’s refusal to allow the divorced and remarried receive the Eucharist can cause people to turn from the Church and God himself, Berlin’s Archbishop Heiner Koch has told the Synod of Bishops. In his three-minute address to the gathered bishops, Dr Koch said the Church’s theological arguments “do not silence the questions in the…

A parish appeal in Belfast to raise funds to help alleviate the suffering of refugees fleeing war in Syria has raised an incredible €70,000.  Sparked by frustration at what they saw as a poor political response to the crisis, the Redemptorist community at Clonard Monastery undertook fundraising collections at the end of September, which was…

Attitudes to gay people in Africa are unlikely to change overnight, even though bishops have publicly defended the inherent dignity of people with homosexual tendencies, Accra’s Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle has said. Claiming that negative attitudes against homosexuals have existed for “millennia” in Africa, the Ghanaian archbishop said “it would be a bit deceptive to think”…