Madison Duddy A Derry-based priest has dubbed First Communion celebrations as an “empty show” for many, as few children return to church after receiving the Sacrament. Fr Paddy O’Kane of Holy Family Parish told this newspaper that many Communicants aren’t committed to the Faith and that the church-return rate afterwards is low. His comments…
A panel of Court of Appeal judges has halted a court-ordered abortion in the UK, overturning a decision made last Friday in a case involving a mentally disabled woman. On Friday, Justice Nathalie Lieven ordered that a 22-week-pregnant mentally disabled woman be forced to have an abortion, despite the objections of the woman and the assurances…
A Satanic Temple member who won the right to open a regional Alaska government meeting declared “Hail Satan” during her first invocation, prompting about a dozen officials and attendees to walk out. Last week’s invocation that started the meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough also spurred a protest outside the southern Alaska borough’s administration building…
A ten-year-old boy is walking the Camino to raise funds for children exposed to violence and poverty on the streets. Christopher Nugent from Ballina in Co. Mayo is currently journeying on his third Camino, this time walking 400 kilometres from Saint Jean Pied de Port in France to Leon in Spain, with his father Robert.…
ChaiBrady and Madison Duddy The Pro Life Campaign is working on programmes aimed to “empower young people” to be future leaders in the pro-life movement in Ireland in order to sustain the fight for life. Inés Lonergan, a pro-life student, told this paper the group are currently working on programmes to engage youth to be…
Pro-life groups have decried a decision to appoint a former director of abortion provider Marie Stopes to the NI Equality Commission (NIEC), dubbing it a “conflict of interest”. Dawn Purvis, who is also a former PUP leader, was one of nine new commission members appointed by Secretary of State Karen Bradley for the next three…
The Venezuelan bishops have expressed their concern for the risks to which Venezuelan emigrants, especially women, are exposed. More than four million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015. Under the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval, with severe shortages and hyperinflation. “The Justice and Peace Commission and Caritas…
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has announced that a local Jesuit high school will no longer be recognised as a Catholic school, due to a disagreement about the employment of a teacher who is in a same-sex marriage. “All those who minister in Catholic educational institutions carry out an important ministry in communicating the fullness of…
Australian bishops have written a pastoral letter denouncing Victoria state’s “new, and deeply troubling chapter of health care”, as voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide became legal last Wednesday. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 took effect on June 19. In a letter earlier this month, the bishops of Melbourne, Ballarat, Sale, and Sandhurst wrote that “we…
The California Catholic Conference commemorated the fourth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home’ by issuing a pastoral statement calling for heightened attention to ecological issues in the state that could affect future generations. The document from the conference, which includes all of California’s bishops, focused on the encyclical’s…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady