Parish Priest, Fr Gerard McCloskey serving ice cream at St Nicholas's church, Ardglass, Co. Down as part of an ‘Ice cream Sunday’ initiative to give children of the parish a sense of belonging and to encourage them to participate in Sunday Mass. Photo: Gerard Smyth

The Abrahamic faiths will unify around the papal visit

Humble Church can help others confront harm

The leader of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine has rejected allegations from the Russian Orthodox Church that his congregation is sowing disunion in the country. In an interview conducted after criticisms levelled by Moscow’s Metropolitan Hilarion, reported in The Irish Catholic last week, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk insisted that his Church was not taking…

Embassy monitoring apostasy case

Catholic schools must retain the right to teach the Church’s message about marriage and the family, Bishop Noel Treanor has warned. Belfast-based Dr Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, warned that based on experience in other jurisdictions, this freedom is very often denied to Churches once same-sex marriage legislation is introduced. The rights and freedoms…

Correspondent’s tweet described as ‘provocative’

The former National Co-ordinator for Diocesan Vocations has criticised a lack of Church focus on promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Fr Paddy Rushe, who was responsible for vocations nationally from 2006-2011, has hit out at Church leaders for failing to prioritise vocation-promotion over the past two decades. He claimed “the Church did…

Nagasaki to host new museum

Guide identifies candidates’ stance on life issues