Restraining orders enacted

Archbishop responds to WHO report

Pope Francis has reportedly excommunicated the leader of the liberal reform group ‘We Are Church’. According to reports in the German press, Martha Heater, (67) chair of the movement, and her husband, Gert, incurred excommunication for repeated private celebrations of the Eucharist, which the Church considers a grave sin. Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Innsbruck is…

The leader of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine has rejected allegations from the Russian Orthodox Church that his congregation is sowing disunion in the country. In an interview conducted after criticisms levelled by Moscow’s Metropolitan Hilarion, reported in The Irish Catholic last week, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk insisted that his Church was not taking…

John McAreavey tells how his personal relationship with God helped him through his loss.

Catholic schools must retain the right to teach the Church’s message about marriage and the family, Bishop Noel Treanor has warned. Belfast-based Dr Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, warned that based on experience in other jurisdictions, this freedom is very often denied to Churches once same-sex marriage legislation is introduced. The rights and freedoms…

Second annual Festival of Faith for Sligo Parishes Cluster

The former National Co-ordinator for Diocesan Vocations has criticised a lack of Church focus on promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Fr Paddy Rushe, who was responsible for vocations nationally from 2006-2011, has hit out at Church leaders for failing to prioritise vocation-promotion over the past two decades. He claimed “the Church did…

Special year marks centenary of devotion

Nagasaki to host new museum