Catholics in Ireland have an important role to play in fostering the “soul of Europe”, Bishop Noel Treanor told The Irish Catholic. Fostering this soul is a “challenge and imperative to work for the promotion of the good [via the European project], for the realisation of what’s true and global and enhancing”, said Bishop Treanor,…
Businessman Declan Ganley’s High Court challenge over the legality of the ban on public worship which has been in place at various stages throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has now been dismissed. Mr Justice Charles Meenan said that Mr Ganley’s challenge was now pointless, as the situation has lapsed. Mr Ganley argued that although the regulations…
The Catholic chaplaincy at Queen’s University Belfast delivered over 300 shoeboxes containing essentials and Christmas treats to Belfast Homeless Services during the festive season. QUB students, their families and friends “have been incredibly generous in their support of this worthwhile cause”, the chaplaincy said in a post on Facebook. Significant donations came from the Ards…
Tech billionaire and Time’s 2021 Person of the Year Elon Musk has urged people to have more children, saying that low and declining birth rates are “one of the biggest risks to civilisation”. Speaking recently at a Wall Street Journal event, Mr Musk said there “are not enough people”. “I can’t emphasise this enough, there…
Church leaders in the Holy Land are pleading for action to stop what they describe as a “systematic attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land”. In a pre-Christmas plea, the leaders – representing all the main Christian traditions in the Holy Land – call on local…
edited by Brandon Scott Sacramental Confession has healing abilities that priests should especially emphasise to help bring God’s love and consolation to a world damaged by two years of the coronavirus pandemic. That is the advice for confessors from Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who stressed the urgency of their work for humanity. “In the season of…
The Irish bishops’ council for catechetics has launched a new religious education programme to “foster religious literacy” in Catholic secondary schools. The ‘Credible Catholic’ programme is aimed at senior-cycle non-exam RE, having been designed in line with feedback from teachers and theological advisors in Ireland, a press statement from the council said. Drawing on an…
edited by Brandon Scott Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to celebrate Christmas with a focus on Jesus Christ’s closeness, not on the consumerist, commercial aspects of the holiday. “Let’s not live a fake Christmas, please, a commercial Christmas,” the Pope advised. “Let us allow ourselves to be wrapped up in the closeness of God, this closeness…
The current state of national data collection with regards to abortion and its adverse outcomes are worse than “abysmal”, according to Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan. Deputy Nolan’s comments come following a report that 12,000 women in England and Wales have been treated in hospital for complications arising from medical abortion treatment failure. It is understood…
edited by Brandon Scott Bishop Antonio Staglianò of the Diocese of Noto in the Italian island region of Sicily left parents dismayed after he told a group of children that Santa Claus did not exist, subsequently sparking a week of backlash from parents and international media. After Bishop Staglianò’s comments on the Christmas character caused…
Ruadhán Jones