One of the top military hospitals in the US says it is reviewing a Catholic pastoral care contract it awarded last month to a Virginia-based firm that specialises in providing government clients with industrial machinery, tactical gear, and janitorial supplies, in addition to chaplains and other religious staff. Franciscan friars at Holy Name College in nearby Silver…
TD Michael Collins has hit back at the HSE for having “smeared” pro-life counselling services, after the HSE described them as “disingenuous organisations”. The Health Service Executive described a “disingenuous organisation” as one that offers “advice and supports that do not include information on abortion services”. In response, Deputy Collins criticised the HSE, saying an…
At least 94 people reportedly have died in a series of deadly attacks on Christian communities throughout Holy Week in Benue state in north-central Nigeria, an ominous sign of escalating violence blamed on Muslim militias in the country’s Middle Belt region. On April 2, armed men reportedly stormed a Palm Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in…
The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has confiscated a cloistered monastery and arrested 20 people for activities related to Holy Week in Nicaragua. The Trappist sisters of Nicaragua, who left the country in February after 22 years of service, reported April 11 that the government verbally informed the…
An AI study of conflict in the North shows religion is not to blame, writes Ruadhán Jones Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be seen as a threat to humanity, but a new study shows how it can be used to tackle real-life conflicts. Conducted by the Cambridge University’s interfaith Woolf Institute, a study of conflict in…
The visit of US President Joe Biden is an opportunity to highlight how Government policy has led to “wrecked families” in rural parishes, according to a Mayo priest. Fr Kieran Holmes in Ballina parish spoke to The Irish Catholic ahead of President Biden’s visit to St Muredach’s Cathedral on April 14, where baptismal records of…
Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan has asked the Minister for Education for a review of all SPHE recommended reading lists to ensure that the material being recommended to children is age-appropriate. Deputy Nolan said she saw a “significant increase” in the number of parents contacting her about the inappropriate content of books on recommended…
Plans by Government to introduce a free hot meal in primary schools to all children is not a good use of money, according to the director of Social Justice Ireland Fr Sean Healy SMA. Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphrey made the announcement after publishing an independent evaluation of the School Meals Programme – which…
Easter hope is hard to see for survivors of an earthquake that left 50,000 dead and around 1.5 million homeless in Syria and Turkey two months ago, an Irish missionary based in Aleppo has said. Christians in the Syrian city celebrated the Easter triduum amid the ruins of homes destroyed by the earthquake and 12…
The murder of a Romanian woman in prostitution in Limerick is a reminder that the sex trade is “inherently violent, dangerous and harmful”, Irish charity Ruhama has said. Their statement comes after Geila Ibram, a 27-year-old woman from Romania, was found dead at a residence in Limerick on Tuesday, April 4. Habib Shamel, an Afghan…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady