All-Ireland winning Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte has spoken of how his faith has helped him cope with the devastating loss of his daughter, Michaela, who was murdered four years ago. Michaela McAreavey, 27, was found strangled while on her honeymoon in Mauritius in January 2011. Nobody has ever been convicted of her murder. Asked…

To coincide with the May 23 beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero, RTÉ is broadcasting a highly acclaimed documentary on El Salvador first shown 35 years ago. Who is for Liberation?, exploring the poverty, inequality, and increasingly oppressive political conditions then afflicting El Salvador, was originally shown a month before the assassination of Archbishop Romero. Revealing…

A Co. Meath couple met Pope Francis following their wedding ceremony in Rome

A senior Government minister has accused a number of TDs of being “obsessed” with the Catholic Church’s stance on abortion. Praising the Church’s role in education and healthcare here, Health Minister Leo Varadkar warned that some TDs were “a little bit obsessed with the Church for reasons I do not understand”. The minister was speaking…

Bishop questions whether move is part of ‘wider agenda’

In the remote village of N’Korobougou, in the western region of Koulikoro, 68-year-old Kany Doumbia was diagnosed with trichiasis, the advanced stage of trachoma, where the infection has become so bad that the eyelashes have turned inwards, painfully scratching the eyeball with every blink. After 20 years of pain, surgery has returned her sight. Every…

“I don’t think it makes sense to say children should not be part of a debate about marriage and the family”

A Belfast parish priest has welcomed the decision to develop the site of a former Catholic secondary school for the use of the two local parish communities as a “real win-win for all concerned”. The Diocese of Down and Connor has announced that the Flax Trust, which focuses on reconciliation through economic development, will take…

The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has urged doctors to be more “sensitive” when speaking publically about women whose children are diagnosed with a life-limiting disorder in the womb. “It is important that they are aware of language they use isn’t offensive or hurtful to families who have been through or find themselves in those situations,”…

Christians should not shy from speaking out and acting in response to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, according to Tuam’s Archbishop Michael Neary. Speaking at a Mass in Knock for those who have died through religious persecution, Dr Neary lamented the destruction and exodus of millennia-old Christian communities from the Middle East,…