A former Vatican official facing charges of extortion and abuse of office related to a controversial London property deal said he was acting under obedience in his role and made no decisions without approval from his direct superior, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra. Msgr Mauro Carlino, who served as secretary to then-Archbishop Angelo Becciu, when he…
An Arab Christian police officer was one of five killed by a Palestinian gunman in a suburb of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv March 29. The attack took place that evening in Bnei Brak, one of the country’s most populous ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas. One of those killed was Christian police officer Amir Khoury, a…
A local community in Gougane Barra has taken issue with the proposed nearby building of Cork’s biggest wind turbines, close to the picturesque St Finbarr’s Oratory. An Bord Pleanála gave the controversial project a green light in February after it had been refused planning permission by Cork County Council because of the negative impact the…
Catholic priest abducted after Sunday Mass in Nigeria A Catholic priest of the Diocese of Minna in Nigeria was among 45 people kidnapped after Mass March 27. The Nigeria Catholic Network reported that on the morning of March 27, assailants abducted villagers along with Fr Leo Raphael Ozigi, a priest of St Mary’s Catholic Church in the…
Staff reporter Pre-packaging claims as “rights” can be used to shut down debate and deny the chance to “discern” the validity of the claims, Senator Rónán Mullen has said. This comes after senators took issue with Senator Mullen’s reluctance to use the term “transgender rights” during an Order of Business debate. Senator Mullen took to…
The verdict in the closely watched trial of a Finnish Christian MP was announced March 30. A court in Helsinki dismissed all charges against Päivi Räsänen, a physician and mother of five, and Juhana Pohjola, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, after a free speech trial that drew international attention. The court said in…
The Augustinian order have made the “painful” decision to withdraw friars from Rivermount Parish in Finglas and Meath Street parish in the Liberties. The decision came following the order’s chapter last week, as it seeks to downsize due to a decline in the number of friars. Prior provincial Fr Tony Egan OSA told this paper…
The iconic Collegiate Chapel of St Finbarr – better known as the Honan Chapel at University College Cork – reopened in March, after a €1.2 million refurbishment. Bishop of Cork and Ross Fintan Gavin celebrated Mass to mark a new chapter in the chapel’s 106-year-old story. The occasion was also marked with a dinner in…
Oregon has dropped its residency requirement for assisted suicide, meaning doctors will be allowed to prescribe lethal drugs to people who do not reside in the state. In response to a federal lawsuit, the state agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement, March 28. In addition, the Oregon Health Authority agreed to write a bill…
Pope Francis to visit Indigenous peoples in Canada in July Pope Francis has said that he will travel to Canada in the summer, possibly for the feast of St Anne on July 26. He made the announcement during a meeting with Canadian Indigenous leaders at the Vatican on April 1. “You have brought the living…
Ruadhán Jones