Celebrations for Westmeath church

Two mass graves containing murdered Christians have been unearthed in a village in Syria. The grim discoveries were made in Sadad, a village some 160kms north of the capital Damascus after soldiers of the Syrian army recaptured it at the end of October from Islamist fighters who had occupied the village since October 21. According…

More than 3,000 men and women leave religious life every year, according to new figures from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Revealing the figures in Rome on October 29, the congregation’s leader, Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo pointed to the “young age” of the majority of those leaving, and…

Two individual sources have claimed that a pair of Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria are alive and have been traced to Turkey. In April, Bishop Boulos al Yazigi of the Orthodox Church of Antioch and Bishop Mar Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim of the Syrian Orthodox Church disappeared while undertaking a humanitarian mission to Kafr Dael, near…

Controversial Vatican accountant Msgr Nunzio Scarano has been transferred to house arrest from the prison where he has been held since his June arrest in connection with the smuggling of €20 million. The monsignor has denied the charges, but his arrest has resulted in a major investigation into his employer, the Administration of the Patrimony…

India – A court in Orissa has been accused of having a “hidden agenda” after it released 54 Hindus linked to attacks during the 2007-08 outbreak of anti-Christian violence in the state. Despite evidence implicating the suspects to the burning of a Baptist church and homes in the district of Kandhamal at Christmas 2007, the…

The Vatican will host a summit meeting of patriarchs and major archbishops of the Oriental Churches of Syria, Iraq and the Middle East this November 19 to 22. Announcing details of the meeting, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches said it would operate under the theme ‘The Eastern Catholic Churches…

Priests can’t just preach ‘confusion’

Pope Francis will elevate new cardinals during a consistory next February. The event, set for February 22, the feast of the Chair of St Peter, will allow the Pontiff to deal with the 14 vacancies in the College of Cardinals which will have opened up by then – and increased by two by the end…

United States – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is about to vote on its presidential successor to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York (pictured). Between November 11 and 14, the conference members will gather for the autumn assembly and choose their new president and vice-president from a shortlist of 10 candidates. The candidates are:…