The Pope knows the family is made up of real people living in the real world, writes Carol Glatz

Funding for social housing has collapsed under the Fine Gael-Labour Government, according to data received by Fianna Fáil following a parliamentary question to Minister Alan Kelly. The data shows that there has been a 79% fall in funding for local authority housing, a 70% fall in funding for voluntary and housing co-operatives, and a 53%…

Two new chaplains have been appointed to University College Cork (UCC) as part of an agreement between the college and the Diocese of Cork and Ross. Nathan Williams and Brett Cavanaugh, both graduates of the University of Notre Dame in the US, will take up their positions at the beginning of the upcoming academic year,…

A postman delivers mail to the former Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary convent in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Superior Court James Chalfant has ruled that the contested sale of the former convent to restaurateur and urban developer Dana Hollister is invalid. Pop singer Katy Perry had offered…

Bro. Denis Aherne, OFM (centre standing) pictured with members of the Burlington community following his first profession in a ceremony with the Provincial Minister of the Irish Franciscans, Friar Hugh McKenna OFM on Sunday. Bro. Denis is a member of the Irish Franciscan Province and having completed his postulancy in the Franciscan Friary, Killarney, Co.…

A man who pleaded guilty to knocking over an elderly nun in the centre of Limerick City and snatching her handbag, has been remanded in custody for sentencing. Joe Roche, 30, approached two elderly nuns, aged 75 and 78, as they walked along O’Connell Street on the morning of January 3. He snatched a handbag…

Staff reporter An Irish charity is set to welcome to Dublin this week a group of Kenyan children who are abandoned, orphaned and living with AIDS. Kenyan Orphan Aid will for the tenth time host the youngsters from the Nairobi-based Nyumbani home as part of the charity’s annual holiday project. The 21 children and their…

Pope signs up as first World Youth Day pilgrim Pope Francis officially opened registration for the 2016 World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland at the weekend. Joined by a young man and a young woman, the Pope was handed a tablet where he launched the online registration. “There, I am registered!” he said to cheers from the pilgrims and visitors. “Through this electronic…

The Administrator of a well-known Dublin parish has refused to comment on plans that would see a large green space on the church grounds levelled to make way for a car park. Just weeks after the launch of Pope Francis’ encyclical calling on Catholics to show more care for the environment, Msgr Lorcan O’Brien of…

Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, has advised recently elected President Muhammadu Buhari to go slowly on his anti-corruption drive so that the public would not term his actions as “persecution”. He said that “the fight against corruption can only succeed where there is transparency, justice and honesty” during a dinner for the group Catholics…