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…
Fr Willie Doyle SJ is one step closer to sainthood after Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan opened October 25 the canonisation cause of the Irish World War One chaplain serving in the British army. Servant of God Willie Doyle was born in Dalkey, Co. Dublin in 1873, and entered the Jesuits in Rahan, Tullabeg, Co.…
A 22-year-old man appeared in court this week charged with stabbing a priest six times in his home in Waterford. Indian priest Fr Bobit Augusthy of the Order of St Camillus, originally from Kerala, was hospitalised after the attack in his house which he shares with two other priests near Waterford Regional Hospital in Ardkeen.…
Staff Reporter US scholar of the ancient world, Thomas Cahill, best known for his lauded How the Irish Saved Civilization, died at the age of 82. Mr Cahill’s wife, Susan, said the cause of death was a heart attack. How the Irish Saved Civilization brought to widespread popularity the theory that Irish monks preserved western…
We must respond to the “urgency” of the Gospel to create a new expression of the Faith in a secularised cultured, said the new Bishop of Ossory. Bishop-elect Niall Coll said Ireland has a “long history of Christian witness” and “we have to believe the Holy Spirit is with us, that we’re going to do…
Senator Rónán Mullen has expressed his worry that Ireland’s trade relationship with China is “compromising our Government’s vigilance” on human rights issues China stands accused of. These comments come as Government officials confirm that a Chinese “police station” in Dublin has been ordered to close. A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said no…
Details are still emerging after a violent raid by Fulani herdsmen October 19 in Benue State, Central Nigeria, reportedly left dozens of Catholic villagers killed. Police and clergy agree that the raid was in reprisal for the killing of four Fulani herdsmen earlier in the week in a clash between herdsmen and farmers defending their…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady