An official portrait of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner and former SDLP leader John Hume was unveiled in Westminster on Monday. Commissioned by the Speaker’s advisory committee on works of art, the portrait was painted by Co. Down-based artist Colin Davidson. It was based on drawings he’d done during sittings with Mr Hume in…
Bishop Barron outraged by cemetery desecration Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester expressed outrage November 2 over the desecration of several graves and the columbarium at the diocese’s Calvary Cemetery in Rochester “with hateful and obscene graffiti” on Halloween night. He assured his prayers for families “of those whose final resting places were so dishonoured”. The…
Pope Francis promised reporters traveling with him to the Gulf nation of Bahrain that his November 3-6 visit would be an “interesting trip.” Thanking the more than 65 reporters, photographers and television-camera operators on the plane with him from Rome, the Pope added that he hoped the trip would include “good news”. However, he said, the…
A Catholic bishop in Congo warned of a loss of government control over parts of the country, three months ahead of a projected visit by Pope Francis. “Our people are languishing in misery, while those managing the republic swim in abundance, showing indifference toward the martyred population,” said Bishop Placide Lubamba Ndjibu of Kasongo. “We…
The Catholic Church is working to promote healing and rebuild trust with Native American communities in response to revelations about mistreatment of students in church-run boarding schools, a priest working on Native American issues for the US bishops told an Archdiocese of Seattle gathering. “This is heart stuff, not head stuff,” Fr Michael Carson, assistant…
Political turmoil is robbing people of hope, writes Chai Brady Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry diocese has warned there is a danger that politics “becomes a game for parties who are squabbling” as the North continues to lack an executive six months after elections. A new election is yet to be announced but is unlikely…
Saints were revolutionaries living the beatitudes, says Pope The saints were not “starched”, picture-perfect conformists, Pope Francis said; they were “countercultural and revolutionary”. The multitude of men and women honoured on the feast of All Saints lived according to the Eight Beatitudes, which made them decidedly out of place in the world, Pope Francis said…
Padre Pio relics to visit Down and Connor The Diocese of Down and Connor will bring the relics of St Padre Pio to the diocese from November 6-11 to mark 20 years since he was declared a saint. Pope St John Paul II canonised Padre Pio in 2002, drawing crowds of an estimated 300,000 to…
What’s the point of Christmas without Christian symbols like a crib, Dublin-based priests have asked after the cancelling of the traditional nativity scene outside the Lord Mayor’s residence in Dublin. The live animal crib, which has been a fixture outside the Mansion House since 1995, will be replaced by a “winter wonderland” in plans announced…
A new prayer campaign hopes to encourage people to come forward and provide fresh information about the so-called ‘disappeared’ – people who were abducted, killed and secretly buried by paramilitaries in the North. Fr Joe Gormley of Derry Diocese, who works closely with the families who are desperate to give their loved ones the dignity…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones