A bill proposed by the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party would criminalise “harassment” of women entering abortion clinics. The bill was introduced May 21 by the PSOE’s coalition in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of Spain’s legislature, and would criminalise “harassing women going to clinics for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy”. Penalties for…
Gunmen attacked a Catholic parish in northern Nigeria last Thursday, killing one priest and kidnapping another. Fr Alphonsus Bello was found dead May 21, the morning after his parish, St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in the Diocese of Sokoto, was attacked by armed bandits. He was 33. Fr Bello was kidnapped along with another priest,…
Vatican names new liturgy chief Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Arthur Roche last Thursday as the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Archbishop Roche, the current secretary for the congregation, succeeds Cardinal Robert Sarah, who served as its prefect for six years until the Pope accepted his resignation…
Hong Kong churches to commemorate Tiananmen victims Seven churches in Hong Kong will offer candlelight vigil Masses on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre this June. The Diocese of Hong Kong’s Justice and Peace Commission has announced that the churches will each offer a Mass for the Dead on the night of June 4.…
Pope Francis will conclude the Catholic Church’s month-long rosary marathon with special prayers to Mary, Undoer of Knots, one of his favorite titles for the mother of Jesus. Bishop Bertram Johannes Meier of Augsburg, Germany, will bring an icon of Mary Undoer of Knots to the prayer service on May 31 in the Vatican Gardens,…
The theft of the gold rosary that Mary, Queen of Scots took to her execution is a “very tragic loss” for Catholic history, a curator has said. Jan Graffius, the curator of the Stonyhurst Collections, made the comment after police reported that thieves broke into Arundel Castle in West Sussex, southern England, on May 21, stealing…
Bishops in the Republic have been urged to trust priests in parishes with decisions around holding First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies. It comes after the Department of the Taoiseach sent a circular to the Church hierarchy advising they postpone the ceremonies of First Holy Communion and Confirmation for May and June, to be resumed…
EXCLUSIVE The incoming DUP leader Edwin Poots has refused to say whether or not he would be willing to attend Mass if invited. A spokesman for Mr Poots told The Irish Catholic that the party has worked with the Catholic Church on a number of issues. However, when asked whether or not Mr Poots would…
NET Ministries Ireland has continued to place God in the hearts of young people around the island, with a large number of missionaries finding their vocations to religious life and marriage in recent years. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Executive Director Tony Foy said that over the past 18 months, six young men have entered…
The Sacrament of Baptism is continuing in every diocese in the Republic except for the Archdiocese of Dublin, The Irish Catholic has found. Baptisms are continuing on a smaller scale in every diocese around the Republic, and in the North, while they remain prohibited alongside First Communion and Confirmation in Dublin archdiocese. However, a baptism…
Chai Brady