Most Americans support life imprisonment over the death penalty, according to a Gallup poll, revealing a shift in the majority opinion on this issue for the first time in 34 years. The poll, based on results from telephone interviews conducted in October with a random sample of 1,526 adults in the US, showed 60% prefer…
A leading social justice campaigner has described the failure to use an historic building in Dublin for homeless accommodation that is costing taxpayers almost €200,000 a year as “a mess”. Dublin City Council are paying €16,250 a month for a property on 21 Aungier Street in the city centre despite not being able to convert…
Two Catholic priests have been convicted of sexually abusing students at an institute that cared for deaf children. The priests have been sentenced to more than 40 years in an Argentine prison. Their victims say one abuser should have been stopped seven years before his arrest, when he was accused of abusing children at a school…
Human rights groups have voiced concern over the arrest of a Coptic Christian activist in Egypt, on terrorism-related charges. Critics argue the arrest is an attempt to silence those who disagree with the government. Ramy Kamel, founder of the human rights organisation Maspero Youth Union, was arrested on Saturday by seven police officers. He faced…
RTÉ has “unreservedly” apologised to writer and broadcaster Kevin Myers after the station wrongly accused him of being a Holocaust denier. The false claim was aired in 2017 after Mr Myers was dismissed as a columnist with the Sunday Times newspaper after an online campaign accusing him of anti-Semitism – despite the fact that he…
A pro-life group have launched the ‘Repeal Section 9’ Campaign, which urges people in Northern Ireland to vote only for pro-life candidates in the upcoming Westminster Election. Precious Life launched their campaign this week, which aims to put pressure on political representatives in Northern Ireland to state their commitment to repealing the Westminster-imposed abortion law…
Pope advances sainthood cause of Canadian bishop Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Bishop Ovide Charlebois – a Canadian Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate who ministered to First Nations peoples and migrant workers scattered throughout the vast, lake-covered province of Manitoba. The Pope recognized the Quebec native, who lived from 1862 to 1933,…
Sr Consilio Fitzgerald, the founder of Cuan Mhuire, was this week presented with the Oireachtas Human Dignity Award at a ceremony in Leinster House. It comes 53 years after she began work from a small room in the Convent of Mercy in Athy, Co. Kildare with people experiencing addiction. Today, there are five treatment centres…
Priest defends decision to deny judge Holy Communion The Church in western Michigan is defending a priest’s decision to deny Holy Communion to a judge in a same-sex marriage. Judge Sara Smolenski says Fr Scott Nolan privately informed her on about a week after receiving Communion from him at St Stephen Church in East Grand…
The number of Irish people who say they pray every day has increased and presents an opportunity for the Church to grasp, according to experts. The recently-published European Social Survey 2018 found that while Mass attendance continued to decline, there was an increase of 2.1% in the number of people who say they pray every…
Chai Brady