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…

Staff reporter An Irish production company is set to launch a major crowd-funding campaign for a feature documentary on Knock. Underground Films is aiming to raise €70,000 in 40 days to help fund a motion picture on Ireland’s national Marian shrine which is set for the silver screen in Easter 2017. The Dublin based company,…

Ukrainian Church leaders have condemned plans to permit same-sex partnerships under a series of constitutional reforms. “These provisions threaten to plunge the Ukrainian state into the abyss of immorality and sin, to destroy the family as the basic social institution and popularise relationships between persons of the same sex which are unnatural for human beings,”…

An Irish artist commissioned to craft a life-size monument of Archbishop Fulton Sheen for New York’s famous actors’ chapel hopes the work will inspire a new generation of devotees to the archbishop. Dublin-based Dony Mac Manus is currently working on the 10-foot piece which it is hoped will be installed at St Malachy’s Church, which…

Pope Francis uses a tablet to officially open online registration for World Youth Day 2016 in Poland. The Pope became the first pilgrim to register. Photo: L’Osservatore Romano

The group tasked with identifying improvements to the Direct Provision system for asylum-seekers and refugees has expressed disappointed at the Government’s lack of progress in implementing its recommendations. “The report of the Working Group will not serve its purpose and improve the protection process or enable asylum seekers to live with greater dignity if it is not implemented,” said…

It’s a summer ‘staycation’ for Pope Francis, writes Cindy Wooden

Participants at the Michaela Camp for young girls at the HUB in Knock Shrine last week, pose on board their ship of faith creation.

Slaves are a hidden population in modern Europe, writes Paul Keenan