Germany – A German bishop has signalled that plans to offer Communion to divorced-remarried Catholics will go ahead despite a recent warning from Rome.  In an address to a lay group Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Stuttgart said that he and his fellow prelates have already drawn up guidelines on the issue and are hopeful that…

Bennettsbridge Art Group selling Christmas cards for the St Vincent De Paul

United States – Former US ambassadors have criticised plans to shift America’s Embassy to the Holy See to the grounds of the country’s Embassy to Italy in Rome. Despite the Obama administration attempting to justify the move on the grounds of security, diplomats have accused their government of enmity to the Church and its faithful.…

Parish pastoral councils are “building the Church of the future”

The first book printed in America, the Bay Book of Psalms, has fetched a record-breaking $14 million (€10.3 million) at auction in New York, making it the most expensive book in the world. Produced by Puritan settlers in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640, the book is one of just 11 surviving from a run of 1,700,…

The Galway Franciscans and Poor Clares are celebrating a Year of the Holy Name of Jesus

Malaysia – A United Nations Special Rapporteur has stepped into an ongoing legal row centred on a Catholic paper’s desire to use the word ‘Allah’ in its pages. The diocesan weekly Herald newspaper is currently barred from printing the name following the confirmation, by the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur, of an earlier Ministry…

The AL!VE youth event is open to all young people aged 16-30

Pakistan – A Christian man, held in prison since 2005 on charges of blasphemy has been released from prison following a successful appeal. Younis Masih had originally faced a death penalty following a trial which heard allegations that he had made blasphemous comments against the Prophet Mohammed. The allegations arose in 2005 when Masih asked…

UCC accused of ‘spiritual apartheid’