The Office of Public Works has rejected responsibility for the preservation of a pre-Anglo-Norman church and ancient stone crosses in south Dublin. Tully church and a number of ancient stone crosses date from between the 10th to the 13th Century, and the church is possibly of Hiberno-Norse design. In a response to a parliamentary question, Minister with…
State-sponsored hackers have reportedly targeted Vatican computer networks in an attempt to give China an advantage in negotiations to renew a provisional deal with the Holy See. A report, released on July 28, said that hackers may have used a counterfeit condolence message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, to gain access to…
Faith communities in Nigeria face daily violence and persecution, a US-based rights group said. It called for US intervention after a terrorist group executed five men abducted while providing assistance in northeastern Nigeria. While Christians, particularly preachers, “are clearly the targets” of militants in the West African country, Muslims are killed too, said Archbishop Matthew…
Cardinal Michael Czerny has voiced support for a German abbess facing trial for sheltering refugees. The cardinal said that Mother Mechthild Thurmer, a Benedictine nun, was in keeping with “a long tradition of Christians living their Faith to the final consequence”. Mother Mechthild is facing trial in Bamberg, Germany, for offering refuge on 30 occasions…
Spotlight needed on abuse in women’s orders – Jesuit journal The abuse occurring within women’s religious orders deserves more attention from the media and must be remedied, said an influential Jesuit journal. Novices and women religious, especially those who have been assigned to a country where they don’t know the language, can be particularly vulnerable to abuses…
Pope Benedict ‘very unwell’ since trip to Germany Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is sick with a bacterial infection and “very frail”, according to a German newspaper report. Citing Benedict biographer Peter Seewald, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) reported on Monday (August 3) that the 93-year-old Pope emeritus is suffering from facial erysipelas, a bacterial…
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh has hailed John Hume as a “paragon of peace” for his key role in bringing an end to the conflict in the North. Mr Hume, 83, died early this morning (Monday), his family said in a statement. As a young man Mr Hume trained for the priesthood in Maynooth, before…
Comments made by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett criticising the Sisters of Charity after the order moved to wind down a Dublin nursing home have been described as “blinkered”. Mr Boyd Barrett – a People Before Profit member of the Dáil – described the sisters as “property magnates” who seem “to have lost any interest in…
Jason Osborne The national novena to Our Lady of Knock has become the latest high-profile casualty of a wave of events called off due to concerns about coronavirus. The event is postponed until perhaps later this year, Fr Richard Gibbons, PP Rector of Knock Shrine has announced. The novena began in 1977 and has continued in…
Seventeen senators and TDs across several parties have signed a letter for the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs highlighting their concerns about the treatment of the Uighur people in China. The letter asks that Ireland “immediately condemn the barbaric measures” used by Chinese authorities to decrease the Uighur population, the vast majority of which…
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady