Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick was among an Irish delegation of 120 people who travelled to the Focolare summer gathering at Hope University in Liverpool last week. Addressing the summer gathering, jointly hosted by Focolare in the UK and Ireland, Bishop Leahy said that when Focolare started in 1943 the founders could “hardly have imagined…

Fr Robert McCabe CF, Chaplain to the Forces, blessing the grave of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa on the centenary of his burial at Glasnevin Cemetery, the first of the State’s official commemorations of the 1916 Rising.

The Government has ruled out removing the controversial direct provision system for asylum seekers and refugees. Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said it is “not feasible” to say there are alternatives to direct provision and the Government is instead concentrating on improvements to the system to fast-track application decisions. She said direct provision is “not…

In January, this newspaper turned its attention to events in India, then eight months into the tenure of Prime Minister Nahendra Modi. At the time, the coverage, coming just days before the visit of the US President Barack Obama, and days after a Christian church in Delhi suffered severe vandalism – allegedly by a Hindu…

Staff Reporter Ireland’s national shrine at Knock will make history at the weekend as the first transatlantic flight carrying pilgrims arrives for the annual novena. Led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, the pilgrims’ first Mass at the shrine will be broadcast live by RTÉ. Fr Richard Gibbons, rector of Knock Shrine described the…

Fr Enda Murphy, a priest of the Diocese of Kilmore, has been appointed by the Vatican Secretariat of State to serve in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments of the Roman Curia. Fr Murphy is a native of Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh. He studied at Queen's University, Belfast, the Gregorian University in Rome and,…

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…