About 10,000 people marched to support the right to life in Dublin over the weekend with the hopes to change culture, oppose Ireland’s new abortion law and defend conscience rights for medical professionals. People of all religions and none, ages, genders and ethnicities attended the Rally For Life, which took place in Dublin on Saturday.…
Category: News
St Oliver Plunkett honoured with procession, camino and 7-foot statue
People from across the country braved a three-day pilgrimage in honour of St Oliver Plunkett this week, which culminated in the unveiling of a statue of the martyred saint. A Mass dedicated to the annual procession of the holy relics of St Oliver, as well as commemorating the 350th anniversary of his appointment as Archbishop…
German Church can’t transform through quick ‘fixes’, Pope says
No quick “fixes” or organisational change will renew the Catholic Church in Germany, Pope Francis has said, maintaining that what is needed is a spiritual renewal and Gospel transparency. In a letter to “the pilgrim people of God in Germany”, published by the Vatican, the Pope said efforts to eliminate tension solely by “being in…
Nurses’ help in war on trafficking hailed as ‘exciting prospect’
A global programme to raise awareness among nurses of human trafficking has been welcomed by Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns, who represents the Irish bishops in an international anti-trafficking alliance. The initiative, a partnership between the International Council of Nurses, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, HSE and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,…
Catholic mission moulded by music
Over 100 singers and musicians from around the country attended the 50th Annual Irish Church Music Association’s summer school in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, last week on the theme ‘Rejoice and Sing’. This year the Irish Church Music Association’s 50th summer school was preceded by a two-day jubilee conference being held in partnership with the National Centre…
Vatican orders opening of two tombs in search of girl missing since 1983
The Vatican City State tribunal has ordered the opening of two tombs in a small Vatican cemetery at the request of the family of Emanuela Orlandi, a young woman who disappeared in 1983. Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican City resident and the daughter of a Vatican employee, disappeared in Rome on June 22, 1983, when she…
Herald changes follow clashes over poor US returns
The Editor-in-Chief and US CEO of the UK-based Catholic Herald have left the company against the background of disagreements with board members over the magazine’s November 2018 American expansion. July 4 saw longtime Herald Editor-in-Chief Damian Thompson announce on Twitter that he and the magazine’s “new owners” did not agree on the company’s “future direction”,…
Sri Lanka tourist numbers drop after church attacks
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rapidly declined in June, showing the severe economic impact of the Easter bombings on the Indian Ocean island nation. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said there were 63,072 tourist visits to Sri Lanka last month, a drop of 57% compared with June 2018, when the number was 146,828. The…
French priest defrocked after abusing scouts
France’s Catholic Church pronounced a priest guilty of sexually abusing multiple Boy Scouts over several years and defrocked him last week, an unusually strong move that reflects France’s growing reckoning with clergy sex abuse. The ruling by a Church tribunal was the latest development in a case with repercussions that reached the highest levels of…
Vatican Roundup
Francis gives St Peter’s bone fragments to Orthodox leader Pope Francis has unexpectedly given a reliquary containing what are believed to be bone fragments of St Peter to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, an ecumenical gesture that has generated controversy among some Catholics. The Pope took the reliquary from the chapel in the papal apartments, where Pope…
Chai Brady


Greg Daly
Colm Fitzpatrick




