Churches in the North have been invited to apply for a relief scheme aimed at combatting the energy crisis. The North’s Department for the Economy told The Irish Catholic that churches are eligible for the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, along with businesses, voluntary and public sector organisations. “The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is being run…
The Catholic population in the United States has grown by about two million people in 10 years. With nearly 62 million people, it continues to constitute the largest religious body in 36 US states, according to the latest religion-focused survey of America’s religious congregations. Over the last decade, many Catholics, the survey found, have moved…
Pro-life advocate in the UK Heidi Crowter has been listed as one of the BBC’s ‘100 women of 2022’, in what was a big year for the 27-year-old. A woman with Down’s syndrome, Ms Crowter has worked in recent years to challenge England’s abortion law which permits abortion up to 24 weeks, but allows unborn…
Canadian Church reflects on Pope’s ‘pilgrimage of penance’ The Canadian bishops have released a reflection on Pope Francis “words of healing and reconciliation” during his ‘penitential pilgrimage’ to Canada last July. The Canadian Conference of Catholic bishops’ message marking the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, celebrated in Canada on December 12…
The Biden administration may not force Catholic organisations and medical professionals to perform gender-transition surgeries or provide insurance coverage for them, the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has said in a recent ruling that cited religious freedom grounds. “The federal government has no business forcing doctors to violate their consciences or perform controversial procedures…
France’s Catholic bishops have set up what they believe to be the world’s first major national church court, replacing a previous network of local tribunals, although sexual abuse cases involving children will still be referred to the Vatican. “As a community of believers, the Church has developed a comprehensive legal system, which includes the right…
A group of Spanish Catholics sent a petition to the Madrid cardinal and Pope Francis’ ambassador, asking help to prevent the removal of a giant cross and a Benedictine monastery from a civil war cemetery and memorial outside Madrid. “These Benedictines carry out an invaluable task: They pray for the people buried there, for peace…
Pilgrims are breathing fresh life into the city of Christ’s birth, writes Judith Sudilovsky On the third Sunday of Advent the pews of St Catherine’s Church were overflowing, with families and young children, teenagers and older parishioners attending Mass in anticipation of Christmas. We go out, we go shopping, we have places where we eat…
In the annual Newman Lecture, Prof. William Cavanaugh teased out the religious element at the heart of the West, December 7. Speaking in Newman University Church, St Stephen’s Green, Prof. Cavanagh’s talk focused on ‘the Enchantment of the Secular’. The American professor showed that “religious” and “secular” people have more in common than is commonly…
Six months after the Pentecost Sunday attack on Sts Francis Xavier Owo Catholic Parish in Ondo Diocese, which left 39 Catholic worshipers killed and more than 80 injured, there have been arrests and promises but no prosecution, Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaye has lamented. “December 5, 2022, is the sixth month of the evil attack, the…
Ruadhán Jones