The death of a Limerick man shortly after finding intruders in his home has raised a national awareness of the need to support the elderly living alone, his parish priest has said. John O’Donoghue died of a heart attack outside his house at Upper Toomaline, Doon, Co. Limerick, last week after he returned home to discover his house…

The Iraqi government has moved to establish a committee with the aim of identifying and countering persecution against Christians in the country. On the orders of Prime Minister Haydar al Abadi, the committee will work to collect details of incidences of persecution from the long-suffering community and formulate concrete security responses to better protect Christians.…

Persistent claims that religious education is tantamount to indoctrination have been rejected as groundless by experts. Mary Immaculate College’s Dr Daniel O’Connell, one of the authors of the new ‘Grow in Love’ primary school course, says “children like religion because you can ask life’s big questions”, dismissing the idea that religious education is simply a…

Pope reaches 100th General Audience Pope Francis reached a personal milestone on August 26 when he preached his 100th Wednesday general audience. The Pontiff used the occasion to revisit a topic which has been at the heart of many of his most recent addresses, the family, and specifically this time, prayer within the family. “We all know how important…

The Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) has described Dublin City Council’s forthcoming vote on a repeal of the 8th Amendment as “lamentable”. Reacting to news that a motion tabled by Councillor Michael O’Brien of the Anti-Austerity Alliance is to face a vote on September 7, Cora Sherlock of the PLC called on pro-life supporters to contact their…

Syrian refugee children scream as they sit in front of Macedonian riot police at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, Greece. As thousands of desperate migrants continue to seek salvation in Europe, Pope Francis referred to the plight of persecuted Christians during his August 30 audience address. Photo: CNS

Staff reporter Pope Francis has warned that there can only be true fraternity between the people of Europe if the continent is open to God. In a message to commemorate the 1,400th anniversary of the death of St Columbanus, Pope Francis said the Irish missionary always had a vision of Europe based on co-operation between people.…

The Church’s biggest challenges are also its biggest opportunities and change must come from the grassroots, this was the message Archbishop Eamon Martin gave to the about 250 people who attended the 14th Catholic Young Adults Conference in All Hallows College, Dublin at the weekend.  Organised by the Legion of Mary under the theme ‘Mary…

Fr Gerry Kane, Parish Priest in Harold’s Cross in Dublin planted and blessed a tree in an ecumenical ceremony with Russian Orthodox priest Fr Mikhail Nasonov at St Clare’s Primary School to celebrate ‘World Day of Prayer for Creation’. They are being assisted by: Esmé Cregan, Liadán MacMenamin, Eniola Afolabi, Sophia Baltazar, Daragh McGeever and…

John Allen reports from Nigeria on inter-faith relations