The Primate of All-Ireland praised St Kolbe as “martyr of love” at a Mass in Warrenpoint, Co. Down, to mark the 80th anniversary of his martyrdom. In his homily September 5, Archbishop Eamon Martin said the Nazis attempted to take away St Kolbe’s humanity, but “what mattered to Fr Maximilian was not number they tattooed…
President Joe Biden last Thursday announced a “whole-of-government” response to “ensure” abortion access in Texas, after the state’s pro-life law went into effect September 1. In a September 2 statement, the president – a Catholic – directed his administration to examine “what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have…
Mass was recently offered atop Skellig Michael for “a renewal of the faith in the hearts of all those in our hallowed land,” according to the event organiser, David O’Donnell. The third century Monastic site saw nine priests concelebrate the Mass and pray an informal consecration of Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the…
A Catholic diocese announced last Wednesday that kidnappers had freed a priest seized in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region. In a statement circulated September 1, Fr Sebastine Sinju, chancellor of the Diocese of Mamfe, said that Msgr Julius Agbortoko Abbor was released without payment of a ransom, reported ACI Africa. “After three days in captivity, we are glad…
Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded ‘not guilty’ September 3 to several charges of sexual assault, while appearing for the first time in a Massachusetts court. McCarrick, 91, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, incidents which allegedly took place in the 1970s. Each of the…
The Anglican bishop of Ebbsfleet stepped down from office after announcing that he will become a Roman Catholic. The resignation of Bishop Jonathan Goodall was announced by Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury in a September 3 statement released by Lambeth Palace. Bishop Goodall is a former ecumenical secretary to a previous archbishop of Canterbury…
Cardinal Parolin urges cooperation and friendship in North Korea speech The Vatican Secretary of State said last week that the Holy See supports cooperation over confrontation in efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. Cardinal Pietro Parolin delivered a virtual keynote speech to the South Korean government’s annual forum to discuss issues…
Peace Prize nominee urges Biden to protect Iraqi Christians After the last US forces left Afghanistan last week, an interfaith coalition implored President Joe Biden to keep American troops in Iraq to protect Christians and other persecuted religious minorities. “We beseech you on behalf of two historic and endangered peoples, Assyrian Christians and Yazidis, to…
Irish bishops have paid tribute to Pat Hume, who died yesterday, with the Primate of All-Ireland remembering her as “a friend to all who suffered during Troubled times”. Following a short illness and surrounded by family, the mother-of-five Mrs Hume passed away in her home in Derry on Thursday, September 2. She was the wife…
Bishop Robert Barron said Tuesday that the Harvard University chaplains made a “complete and abject surrender” by electing an atheist as the president of their association. “What does bother me,” Bishop Barron wrote in an August 31 op-ed for the New York Post, “is the complete and abject surrender on the part of the presumably…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady