Pope Francis has urged Ukraine’s Catholic bishops to focus on the social and human tragedies unfolding in their country and avoid politicising their positions. Meeting the bishops from the country’s Byzantine- and Latin-rite traditions on an ad limina visit to Rome, he urged them to work together, saying, “The sense of justice and truth is…

The same-sex marriage referendum is not about equality, but a radical change in the meaning of marriage, according to Bishop Kevin Doran. Speaking in Donaghmede parish in Dublin this week, the Bishop of Elphin said he was recently asked by a politician “what is so wrong about being nice to people who are equal to…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited Rome to meet Pope Francis in advance of the upcoming G7 summit in Munich this June. Speaking after the unusually long 40-minute audience, Ms Merkel said the main purpose of her visit had been to outline the summit agenda, as its emphasis on the elimination of poverty was “of…

Cardinal Bertone ‘knew about Pope Benedict’s resignation’ seven months before event Former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone knew Pope Benedict XVI was considering stepping down at Pope at least seven months before his resignation was announced, according to a Huffington Post interview. The cardinal says he had many doubts about Pope Benedict’s plan, and said they “debated the topic at length after it…

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ) has warned that a recent investigation report into care at the national children’s detention facility is of “extreme concern”. Eoin Carroll, Advocacy and Social Policy Research Officer at the JCFJ told The Irish Catholic “the current physical surroundings and internal architecture of Oberstown makes it an extremely…

Pope Francis has dismissed the former parish priest of Bangor, Co. Down from the clerical state following his conviction for sex abuse charges. James Donaghy was convicted in December 2011 of 23 sex abuse charges against three individuals and sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2012. In 2013 he was sentenced to another two…

A new opinion poll conducted by Amarach Research on behalf of The Iona Institute has found that 91% of respondents believe that when a child is being placed for adoption, it is best to try and place the child with a man and a woman. The second preference was a woman on her own, followed…

The narrative of Pope Francis as a progressive reformer is becoming so set in stone as to be beyond rethinking or nuance, writes John L. Allen Jr.

A number of members of religious orders are due to receive awards this week to honour their work in charity, overseas development and social activism. This weekend Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, will confer the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin on Bro. Kevin Crowley of the Capuchin Day Centre, which offers free meals…