A Belfast-based law firm has served pre-action correspondence on the Department of Education regarding its Initial Teacher Education Bursary Scheme, whose eligibility criteria excludes approximately 120 current students training to teach STEM and Irish-medium subjects at St Mary’s University College and Stranmillis University College. Phoenix Law is challenging the eligibility criteria of the bursary scheme,…
With the threat of legal assisted suicide looming larger every day in the UK, the president of the Scottish bishops’ conference has appealed to Catholics to contact their MPs to try and stop the bill. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is scheduled for a vote in the House of Commons on September…
The far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has drawn sharp criticism from Germany for his recent comments on the mass killing of Palestinians. “Ben-Gvir’s inhumane statements are diametrically opposed to Jewish values and damage Israel’s reputation,” said Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, in response to an enquiry from the Catholic…
Catholics in the Philippines observed a day of mourning on August 19, one day after a shooting at a Catholic school left two students dead. A ninth-grade student shot and killed a classmate in the grade above him on the morning of August 18 at the junior high school campus of Ateneo de Zamboanga University…
The Church in the Central African Republic has joined the nation in mourning the deaths of more than 100 people who died following the collapse of an artisanal gold mine on Tuesday, August 18. In a statement August 20, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bouar, Msgr Miroslaw Gucwa said it was with “immense…
Indigenous student-leaders and young people rallied in Bangladesh this week to protest what they say is the government’s failure to protect indigenous peoples and religious minorities. The human chain protest outside the National Museum in the capital, Dhaka, on August 18, followed an incident in which a mob attacked a Christian village after the body…
10 million children will die by 2030 because of aid cuts Extreme poverty in the world could have been ended had the USA and other countries not reversed their oversees aid policies in 2025, the head of the charity and NGO Trócaire has said. Sean Farrell, who took up the position of CEO of Trócaire…
Calls have been made for more public displays of Catholic faith after worshippers braved persistent rain for the third annual Dublin Eucharistic and Marian Procession on Sunday. Organiser Karen Brady said the Croí Íosa team had already been approached by people asking when the next procession would take place, while others told them they would…
Former RTÉ personality, Mary Kennedy, said she “would love to see women priests” during her opening talk at Knock Novena. Ms Kennedy was the first guest speaker at the 2026 Novena, talking on the theme of ‘Faith in full view’. Ms Kennedy said that “faith is part of our daily lives, and it’s never going…
The new Bishop of Derry has urged Catholics to view the upcoming Synod as an opportunity to evangelise and to bring back those who have “walked away”. Bishop Michael Router, who is part of the National Synod Team, and steering committee, rejected the notion that it is a “talking shop” with an agenda to change…
Renata Steffens
Martina Purdy