Thousands blessed at annual mission

“Something old, something new.” Recourse to an age-old wedding rhyme by way of summing up recent events in troubled Burkina Faso is not as strange as it might first appear. Indeed, the concept of a happy marriage is certainly not one coming to the mind of deposed President Blaise Compaore as he licks his wounds…

Popular Irish TV drama accurately reflects Ireland’s violent underworld

Tacloban city is getting back on its feet after the devastation of last year’s super storm, writes Caoimhe de Barra

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle has spoken of how her Catholic faith gave her the confidence to pursue her dream career as a singer. Boyle shot to fame in April 2009 when her audition for Britain’s Got Talent aired on television and exploded onto the Internet. The youngest of nine children raised in a strongly…

A British doctor has been ordered to appear in court accused of planning an abortion based on the sex of the unborn baby. Dr Prabha Sivaraman was one of two medics recorded allegedly agreeing to arrange terminations because of the gender of the foetus in a Telegraph investigation in 2012. Dr Sivaraman from South Yorkshire…

Louise McCarthy Parishioners at an Antrim church last Sunday were shocked by graffiti daubed on a nearby Protestant church calling for the release of a suspect in the murder of two British soldiers. Massgoers at St Joseph’s Church, Greystone Road, arrived to see the graffiti on the walls of the Presbyterian Church, just across the road.…

The president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference said his country’s government could defeat the Boko Haram Islamist militant group if it could muster the same political will it found to fight Ebola. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos suggested that the government could end the group’s attacks on Christians and civilians if it really wanted to.…

“Realistic targets” have been set for next year’s enrolment

Pope Francis has removed US Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, 66, as head of the Vatican’s highest court and named him to a largely ceremonial post for a chivalric religious order. Cardinal Burke, formerly prefect of the Apostolic Signature, will now serve as cardinal patron of the Knights and Dames of Malta. It is highly unusual…