An Irishwoman’s cause for canonisation has been opened by an order she founded in Texas. The cause for Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy of Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, is being forwarded by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. A post on the order’s website May 20 revealed that the process of seeking Mother…
As Masses return to military barracks around the country, Fr Seamus Madigan has praised the dedication and hard work of military chaplains during the pandemic. His comments come as attendance of in-person worship restarted fully in military settings across the country, following a short delay in reopening churches in them. Fr Madigan, the head chaplain…
President Higgins has cautioned against new forms of intolerance in an address at the Young Philosopher Awards 2021. Mr Higgins said that “replacing” old forms of intolerance with new ones does not signify “the creation of a progressive or more open, broadminded or democratic society”. Philosophy can lead to “wisdom and respect,” and an understanding…
Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver said he was “filled with deep sadness” after learning of the discovery of the bodies of more than 200 children buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest indigenous residential school. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation May 30 reported an “unthinkable loss” that was “never documented” at…
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…
Ruadhán Jones