Famous Irish rock ‘n roll guitarist Rory Gallagher was “a practising Catholic all his life” and attended Mass regularly at Brompton Oratory in London, his biographer said recently. Speaking on the Brendan O’Connor Show June 6, Julian Vignoles – author of Rory Gallagher, The Man Behind the Guitar – said that Gallagher placed great importance on…
The recent arrest of a Vatican-approved bishop, priests and seminarians in north-central China came as a shocking development, as religious persecution has intensified in the communist-led country under President Xi Jingping. Police arrested Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang May 21, a day after authorities detained seven priests and an unspecified number of seminarians. They…
A date has been fixed for the pro-life organisation’s challenge to the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 which empower NI Secretary Brandon Lewis to direct Stormont ministers to implement a “fully-funded abortion service” over the heads of Stormont MLAs. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) announced the challenge, which they are funding,…
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 registered the highest number of land conflict incidents in Brazil since 1985, the Catholic-affiliated Pastoral Land Commission reported. The commission said in a report released May 31 that the country saw an average of more than four conflicts over land daily throughout the year. The report tallied 1,576 conflicts, an…
A Minecraft user has taken the time to construct a Corpus Christi procession in the much-loved videogame. The procession was replete with a monstrance and the Eucharist being borne by a priest beneath a processional canopy, and was accompanied by a large crowd. Minecraft has found much favour among gaming-Catholics over the years as they’ve…
The chairman of the US bishops’ pro-life committee Archbishop Joseph Naumann called on Congress May 28 to preserve the Hyde Amendment in any federal budget proposal and “to work toward a budget that truly builds up the common good of all”. The head of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, Mercy Sister Mary…
Bioethicists criticised June 3 the relaxation of a 14-day limit on human embryo experimentation. In a statement, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford, England, lamented the decision by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) to lift the limit on lab-grown embryo experimentation. “Once the 14-day rule falls away, the only real limit, it…
Revised canon law on crimes, punishments published A series of laws and procedures promulgated by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and, especially, by Pope Francis to protect children, promote the investigation of allegations of clerical sexual abuse and punish offenders are included in a heavily revised section of the Code of Canon Law. The revision of…
Austrian bishops oppose assisted suicide ruling Austria’s Catholic bishops urged the authorities on June 1 to offer people “assistance to live”, rather than assistance to suicide. The bishops issued a statement in the wake of a ruling by the country’s top court that assisted suicide should no longer be a criminal offense. “Dying is a…
Pope Francis on Wednesday encouraged busy Catholics to say the “Jesus Prayer” throughout the day
Ruadhán Jones