Pope Francis is posing challenges for episcopal conferences, writes Michael Higgins

Major pastoral assembly planned for 2014

Troops deploy to disarm rebels

Pope Francis has topped a ‘most mentioned’ list for users of the Facebook social networking site. The site, which claims some 1.2 billion users released a list of the most discussed persons and topics during 2013 last Monday, revealing the current Pontiff at No.1. The Pontiff’s outgoing and informal manner saw him mentioned more times…

A cleric’s homily has shaken the political powers, writes Paul Keenan

A vibrant and growing parish in the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora has secured a permanent parish church on the site of a former hotel. Following eight years of utilising a local sports hall for weekly Masses, the Good Shepherd parish in the east of Galway City hosted Bishop Martin Drennan last Sunday for…

This time of year, FOX News and other conservative critics begin bemoaning what they call “The War on Christmas.” I should like to raise a different alarm. Whatever one thinks about the ‘War on Christmas’ there is most definitely a ‘War in Advent’. Calvinists are largely to blame for this phenomenon. The early Calvinists, aka…

Abuse survivor Marie Collins has welcomed Pope Francis’ call for bishops to continue helping victims of clerical abuse. She also expressed disappointment with recent criticism of the Murphy Report from the Association of Catholic Priests and warned that some priests who feel hurt may be tempted to try and rewrite history when it comes to…

A Member of the European Parliament with responsibility for monitoring Iraq has warned that the Christian community there now faces extinction. Following a fact-finding mission to Iraq at the end of November, Scottish MEP Struan Stevenson, chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq issued a statement in which he was heavily critical…

A Catholic and a Church of Ireland parish in Belfast will mark a ‘Crafty Christmas’ this year thanks to an ecumenical project which challenged them to complete full-size knitted Christmas trees for each other in time for the festive season. The initiative, tapping into the arts and crafts skills of ordinary parishioners from St Oliver…