Priest who led child protection charged in abuse case A retired priest of the US Diocese of Arlington, who for seven years oversaw the diocese’s programme on protecting minors from clerical sexual abuse, was indicted shortly before Christmas on two counts of sexually abusing a minor. A trial is scheduled next October for Fr Terry…
In “fighting the battles of the past, we learn little”, Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown said in his new year’s homily, ahead of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday – also called the Bogside Massacre – happened January 30, 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, when British soldiers shot and killed 14…
Jenny and Bill Rush and other parishioners at Sts Peter and Paul Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, were nearly finished praying the rosary after an early morning Mass on New Year’s Day when an isolated tornado shook the church, much to their surprise. As the storm roared, the group prayed all the louder, Jenny told Catholic…
The bishops’ new year addresses called for dialogue and education around elections, commemorations and the vaccine gap, writes Ruadhán Jones A number of Irish bishops dedicated their new year’s addresses to questions of justice and peace in Ireland in 2022. The year ahead will see elections in Northern Ireland, centenaries and commemorations across the island of…
A second diocese in Sicily, where the Mafia has had a significant presence for decades, announced a temporary ban on the naming of godparents for baptisms and confirmations. In a decree that went into effect January 1, Bishop Domenico Mogavero of Mazara del Vallo said the ban would be in effect ad experimentum (on an…
Staff reporter St Mary’s High School Downpatrick’s Choir are raising funds for Catholic charity Cuan Mhuire “during this time of desperate need”. The school choir would typically visit Cuan Mhuire’s Newry residents at Christmas, but this couldn’t go ahead in 2021 due to Covid-19. Instead, the choir released a recording of the carol See Amid…
Although the long-established impact of Covid-19 on faith and worship has been extensively documented, positive news has emerged as Radio Maria announced that it has seen texts, calls and general engagement triple when compared to figures compiled before the pandemic, with the station being used as a faith-based resource by those who were deprived of…
Every year, certain storylines dominate news coverage of the Vatican. Some are largely positive, though many tend to be negative, such as the clerical abuse scandals that have been a strong contender for biggest Vatican story of the year for each of the last 20 years. Reporters being basically pack animals, the inevitable effect of…
For Christians in Chin and Kayah states, there were no Christmas and New Year celebrations due to fighting. They have borne the brunt of a decades-old civil war and faced oppression and persecution at the hands of the military, reported ucanews.com. On December 29, Catholics in Kayah’s Hpruso Township held a funeral for 35 civilians…
A lay Catholic organisation held three rosary rallies in Dublin in the run up to Christmas to bring the “true joy” of Christmas to people, and to oppose secularisation. The Irish Society for Christian Civilisation (ISFCC) held the Christmas rallies on O’Connell Street on December 4, 11 and 18. The participants prayed the rosary and…
Ruadhán Jones
John L. Allen Jr.
Chai Brady