Laois-based priest Fr Paddy Byrne has said that priests must continue to give a message of hope in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. “This will pass,” he said of the Covid-19 crisis. “It’s about getting the message out that there is hope and I am very proud and encouraged by how communities are connecting,…
Pope asks faithful to follow Mother Teresa’s lead in crisis Mother Teresa’s example should inspire us to seek out those whose suffering is hidden during the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, according to Pope Francis. At the start of his daily Mass, the Pope said he had seen a photo in a newspaper of homeless people sleeping…
While the country’s best-known shopping centre may be shut, the parish church in the Dublin suburb of Dundrum remains open and will be offering a gift of holy water this Easter. Fr John Bracken – Co-PP – lives next door to the church and is able to keep it open daily for private prayers and…
Pope appoints new archbishop in South Africa Pope Francis has appointed a new archbishop for Bloemfontein in South Africa after the post became vacant. Dehonian Bishop Zolile Peter Mpambani, 63, of Kokstad was transferred to the Free State province as the region’s archbishop. The appointment, made last week, came after the Holy Father accepted the…
Pope Francis has urged Catholics in lockdown due to Covid-19 to be creative in their celebration of Easter this year. He also said the crisis is a moment to reflect on our common humanity and described Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical Humanae Vitae as “prophetic”. He also called on the Church to be “freed in…
Cardinal George Pell has been released from prison after 405 days behind bars after the seven judges of the High Court of Australia unanimously overturned the original December 2018 jury verdict that found him guilty on five counts of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in 1996. The court’s decision, read Tuesday, concluded there was “a significant…
The number of searches for “prayer” on Google has increased worldwide during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a professor based in Denmark. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen of the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen says interest in the term on the search engine “skyrocketed during the month of March 2020 when Covid-19 went global”. Using…
A church in Clonmel lit up over a thousand candles on Friday event for frontline healthcare workers along with prayers and petitions for everyone affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Candles in the shape of a cross were placed on the benches inside Ss Peter and Paul’s Church on, with a number of petition candles lit…
Leaders of Ireland’s Christian Churches have called on the faithful to pray together on Palm Sunday from 3-4pm as the world battles the coronavirus (Covid-19). The leaders of the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches, together with other denominations and Christian organisations…
From the moment he was introduced to the world after his election, Pope Francis has emphasised his identity primarily as ‘Bishop of Rome.’ The 2020 Annuario Pontificio, the official Vatican yearbook, has now made the same emphasis typographically by listing other descriptions of the papal office as “historic titles.” Like the 2019 edition, there is a page that says simply,…
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