Ukrainians pray peace will come quickly, but getting there “must include” justice and respect for Ukraine’s recognised borders, the recently appointed Apostolic Visitor to Ukrainian Catholics in Ireland has said. Bishop Kenneth Nowkowski’s comments come following a controversial letter from Sabina Higgins, wife to the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. In it, she called…
Staff reporter The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan in September and attend an inter-religious meeting in the capital city, Nur-Sultan. Francis is expected to meet the Russia Orthodox Patriarch Kirill – a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – and impress upon him the immorality of the Russian operation. “Accepting the…
Staff reporter Fr John O’Laverty (30) was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Down and Connor in the parish of Bright, Co. Down, on Sunday. Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor, who ordained Fr O’Laverty, said it was a “joyful” day and prayed in his homily that God’s “angelic light” will inspire…
A senator is calling for a full report into the referral of 234 children by the HSE to a British clinic following the NHS’s decision to shut it down. By spring, the Tavistock clinic, named the Gender and Identity Development Service (GIDS), will shut down after it was criticised in an independent review released in…
The US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago said July 28 that a Catholic high school in Indianapolis and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis have a constitutional right to hire staff who will uphold their core religious teachings. The case, Starkey v Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, involves Lynn Starkey, a former guidance…
Staff reporter Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry diocese has said that he believes all information held by the Church in relation to the Claudy bombing in Derry has been handed to authorities. The late Fr James Chesney was said to have been involved in the attack which killed nine civilians and injured 30 when three…
A new study from Queen’s University Belfast shows that being Catholic is one the “main factors” in speaking Irish in the North. The report, which draws on census data from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, shows that 91% of people who were raised Catholic have knowledge of the Irish language. Catholics are four times more…
To improve the lives of Pakistanis, many of whom are desperately poor, the Archdiocese of Lahore has ramped up its educational and vocational training efforts. “We evaluated and studied that – through education and then skill training and some other professional training – that is the only way out of misery,” said Archbishop Sebastian Shaw…
The Primate of All-Ireland has written to the North’s Equality Commission after The Belfast Telegraph refused to publish an advert from the northern bishops without changes to text expressing the Church’s stance on abortion. Archbishop Eamon Martin of the Diocese of Armagh highlighted the implications for faith-based groups and their participation in public life. He…
Ukrainians will fight for their statehood to the last and will not stop until they liberate the last metre of Ukrainian land, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address for Ukrainian Statehood Day July 28. The day marks the 988 Baptism of “Kyivan Rus,” the origin of Christianity in the region, but this is…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady