Church leaders in Southeast Asia have called on governments to help modern boat people, following the discovery of 139 mass graves in Malaysia and the rescue of 3,000 people in the Andaman Sea and off the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The discoveries, which took place at 28 locations between May 11 and May…

The same-sex marriage referendum result was “a defeat” that highlights a gap between the Church and modern society, the Vatican daily newspaper has said. “The margin between the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ votes was too large not to be accepted as a defeat. It was the result of high voter turnout, notably among young people,”…

Islamic State (IS) forces have been driven back in northeastern Syria. Kurdish and Assyrian Christian troops have taken control of the Abdul-Aziz Mountain near the village of Tal Tamar in the province of Hassakeh, bordering Turkey and Iraq. IS militants had in February used the mountain as a base for their seizure of villages along…

Prince Charles and Fr Michael Sheehan leave St Patrick's Church in Donegall Street, Belfast after a short ecumenical service. The prince’s visit to the embattled church, which has been the scene of sectarian behaviour by loyal order marchers in recent years, was seen as a highly significant act of solidarity. Photo: Hugh Russell/The Irish News

The Nebraska Legislature has voted 32-15 to repeal the death penalty. The majority is large enough to override Republican governor Pete Ricketts' promised veto. The bill banning the death penalty, L.B 268, will apply retroactively, giving those currently on death row a sentence of life without parole. There are currently 11 such prisoners in the…

Staff Reporter A parish consultation process with 140 clubs and active groups in Thurles is due to bear fruit next week with a Corpus Christi procession celebrating diversity. Over the last year the ‘Thurles Parish People & Priests Group’ has met representatives of all the active groups in the Co. Tipperary town, to conduct a…

South Sudanese forces have pushed back rebels from a key oil town, a video shown on state television has shown. The video played on South Sudan TV showed tanks, supported by a helicopter gunship, attacking rebels in the town of Melut in the oil-rich northern state of Upper Nile, with at least three armoured barges,…

A round-table conference on evangelisation is to be held in Ballymena. Following on from successful conferences last year, this year’s conference at All Saints Church will be on the theme of ‘Living Faith: Go Proclaim the Gospel’. The conference will be an occasion for people to explore how parishes and faith communities can put their…

The head of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church has called on Pope Francis to take a firmer stand on the conflict in the east of his country. Criticising what he described the Vatican’s “ambivalence” on how Russian-backed rebels have been fighting government forces for more than a year, despite an official ceasefire, Kiev-Halych’s Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk…

A leading religious education expert has said he “remains to be convinced” that a planned change to employment equality law will protect the right of Catholic schools to defend their religious ethos. Theologian Dr John Murray said he was “concerned” by the Minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s announcement that he was working hard to…