In one of the most anticipated cases of the term, the Supreme Court ruled against efforts by the Trump administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Trump administration’s actions in rescinding the program were “arbitrary and capricious”. Last November, the court…
Pro-life campaigners in the North are urging the region’s Assembly to restore protection for unborn children. It comes after MPs in Westminster voted to remove the last legal obstacle meaning that abortion will be allowed for any reason up to 12 weeks, and up to birth on specific grounds such as disability. The regulations came…
The US bishops are urging Catholics to “pray, reflect and take action” on religious liberty in the United States and abroad during Religious Freedom Week, which runs from June 22-29. The first day of the observance is the feast of Ss Thomas More and John Fisher, both martyred for their Catholic faith. The US Conference…
The increased screen time and isolation due to quarantine measures or restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic have put vulnerable minors at greater risk of grooming and abuse online, a Jesuit safeguarding expert said. Almost every nation that has had lockdowns or other restrictions has had similar consequences in which young people are spending a lot…
The famous Redemptorist novena in Limerick has reached an even bigger congregation than normal thanks to the wonders of technology, Fr Gerry Moloney CSsR told The Irish Catholic this week. The annual event would normally see the Redemptorist church in the city thronged with worshippers, but Covid-19 restrictions mean that the novena sessions are only…
The Diocese of Kerry has appealed to TDs in the county to urge the Government to relax a rule that would permit as few as 50 people to attend Mass from June 29. When the Government announced the accelerated roadmap there was no mention of the limit. However, at the weekend Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said…
With anti-racism protests gripping the United States and other countries, young activists in Myanmar see it as the right time to challenge racism in the Buddhist-majority country. Launching a campaign called ‘Don’t call me ‘Kalar’’ on Facebook, the effort seeks to end the use of a term that historically referred to people from the Indian…
Two Tyrone Catholic Grammar schools have said they will have entrance exams despite the Primate of All-Ireland calling for schools to abandon them this year due to the pandemic. St Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon and St Joseph’s in nearby Donaghmore will use academic selection. Archbishop Eamon Martin of the Archdiocese of Armagh, the diocese in…
Build new future with Laudato Si’ say Vatican panelists The coronavirus pandemic and ongoing global crises clearly indicate that Pope Francis’ encyclical on caring for creation urgently needs to be implemented worldwide, a panel of church leaders said. “After Covid-19, nothing will be the same,” Aloysius John, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, said last week at a Vatican news…
Covid-19 hits Yemen’s hospitals hard CAFOD and other humanitarian agencies warn that Yemen’s health care system, already ravaged by five years of civil war, is collapsing, while its people risk famine as the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country struggles with the coronavirus pandemic. “Yemen is desperate for peace,” Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen,…