Tributes have poured in for the Irish-born Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles David O’Connell who was shot dead in his home. The 69-year-old Cork native was a well-known community peacemaker who spent decades ministering in areas afflicted by poverty and gang violence. Bishop of Cork and Ross Fintan Gavin said the “tragic death” has sent…
An Irish Columban missionary in Pakistan has criticised the “religious extremism” behind violent attacks in the country following a deadly terror attack at the end of January. A bomb detonated January 30 inside a mosque in Peshawar in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa killed 101 and left hundreds more wounded. The mosque is located inside a…
Traditionalist communities in Ireland are facing further uncertainty after the Vatican Press Office published a rescript confirming that dispensations from the July 16, 2021, motu proprio Traditionis Custodes are reserved to the Apostolic See. The document, published in Italian and signed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,…
A recent report on conversion therapy is a “bogus” attempt to interfere with doctors’ discussions with their patients, a prominent psychiatrist has warned. The report, conducted by the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, explores “conversion therapy practices” in Ireland as the Government mulls introducing a law banning the practice. The report includes…
Millions of people face the prospect of starving to death, Trócaire warned as it launched its 50th Lenten campaign. Repeated failed rains have led to nearly eight million people – almost half of Somalia’s population – struggling to find food, the charity said in a February 21 statement. “Millions of people are facing the prospect…
Staff Reporter Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has described as “incredibly tragic” figures which reveal that 382 people experiencing homelessness have died in the last five years. “Behind each one of these statistics is a human being, and perhaps a family. “There can be no doubt now that the issue of homelessness is not just a humanitarian…
Irish-born Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles David O’Connell, was shot and killed on February 18 in his Hacienda Heights home, a neighbourhood east of LA. His death is being investigated as a homicide, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles early February 19. Bishop David worked tirelessly for peace…
A court has acquitted a Catholic priest and a pregnancy counsellor of crimes in connection with the “harassment of abortion clinic clients”. District Judge David Wain February 16 dismissed charges against Fr Sean Gough and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, in a matter of seconds, in a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court. Ms Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for…
An independent commission’s report on the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Portugal “points to the urgent need to combat whatever fosters silence from those who have been impacted by abuse,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston. Silence “impedes effective prevention and the administration of justice,” said the cardinal, who is president…
The government in Honduras is “a disaster”, plagued by infighting and corruption, an Irish missionary bishop has warned. The Church is a lonely voice of stability and justice in the Central American country, Bishop Michael Lenihan OFM told The Irish Catholic. The Limerick-born bishop was speaking ahead of taking up his role as archbishop of…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones