The Vatican has named a church in Kazakhstan as the first minor basilica in Central Asia. The Minor Basilica of St Joseph in Karaganda was built at the request of persecuted Catholics who had been exiled to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic by the Soviet Union. “Our beautiful church was built 40 years ago. At…
Female inmates in Ireland’s largest women’s prison, the Dóchas Centre in Dublin, are subjected to xenophobic and threatening abuse and suffer chronic overcrowding according to a chaplain’s report. The 2018 report, seen by the Irish Examiner, was scathing of the conditions inmates face. It alleges there is overcrowding, with between 130 and 150 inmates being…
The legislature of the Australian state of Queensland has passed a law requiring priests to violate the seal of confession to report known or suspected child sex abuse. Failure to do so can be punished with three years in prison. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has said such a reporting requirement would “not make a…
The Government’s six-month Covid-19 plan, announced on Tuesday, proposes bans on all religious services except funerals and weddings for level three warnings upward. The country is currently at a level two warning, the maximum being five, which means religious services can take place with up to 50 people attending. The plan recognises the need to…
A cardinal said that Europe should be “ashamed” after fire devastated the continent’s largest refugee camp, leaving 13,000 people without shelter. In a September 9 interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), lamented the destruction of the Moria camp on the Greek…
Bangladesh Catholic hospitals treat Covid-19 patients with Pope’s ventilators he Catholic Church of Bangladesh has expressed its gratitude to Pope Francis for donating three ventilators in the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Donated through the Apostolic Nuncio, a ventilator was sent to Dhaka and the others were sent to two Catholic hospitals in Dinajpur…
Tabernacle found after theft from Ontario cathedral The tabernacle that was stolen from the St Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral in St Catharines, Ontario was recovered on Wednesday, September 9. A group of parishioners from the cathedral discovered the tabernacle in Centennial Park, which is located near the cathedral. The tabernacle was partially submerged in a…
Premiums refund because of closures EXCLUSIVE Hard-pressed parishes feeling the effects of financial pressure due to Covid-19 restrictions will receive rebates on their insurance premiums, The Irish Catholic can reveal. Priests have welcomed the decision by the main insurer of Church property that parishes will receive refunds due to lockdown and the fact that many…
Ahead of the upcoming Budget, the Irish Hospice Foundation has renewed calls for a whole-of-government strategy for end-of-life and bereavement care. The charity – dedicated to death, dying and bereavement, is urging the Government in a pre-Budget submission to invest in healthcare infrastructure and adequately support end-of-life and bereavement services to ensure the country can…
Ireland’s new European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has been a prominent supporter of Church-state dialogue in the EU and an outspoken defender of the rights of Christians in parts of the world where they face persecution. Ms McGuinness – who has often spoken about her Catholic Faith – maintained a long silence on the issue of…
Ruadhán Jones
Chai Brady