Staff Reporter Churches in the North were privately offered £100,000 a year by a British government minister if they would work more closely together in the interests of community relations, a declassified file has revealed. A memo from Tony McCusker in the Central Community Relations Unit (CCRU) in January 1991 set out details of a…
A day after appealing for an end to the violent persecution of the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Vatican announced Pope Francis will visit the country in late November. After the visit on November 27-30 to the cities of Yangon and Naypyitaw in Myanmar, the Pope will travel on to Dhaka, Bangladesh,…
Catholic dioceses and charities are quickly organising to help in the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall with heavy rains and winds of 130 miles per hour into the Rockport, Texas. The hurricane made landfall late on Friday, August 25. The National Weather Service said in a tweet two days later that…
The Indonesian government has met with Catholic bishops to discuss how a character-building programme could tackle extremism. The programme is already in place in Catholic schools, but Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy is looking into applying the same model to state-run schools. It is expected these schools will act as model schools for other institutions, providing…
Reacting to a recent video in which the Vatican and the Pope were threatened by ISIS, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it represented “senseless hatred”. The Vatican obviously is concerned about terrorist threats and will continue to remain vigilant according to the Vatican Secretary of State. Cardinal Parolin said he had seen the most recent video…
A priest in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Paraiba was found dead in his rectory Thursday morning, with signs of having been stabbed, according to police. The body of Fr Pedro Gomes Bezerra (49) was discovered on August 24 in Borborema. His body was found wrapped in sheets in his residence, which was in shambles.…
Believers are ‘living stones’ that can build up the Church Although the Church is built upon a strong foundation, it is always in need of being reformed and repaired, Pope Francis has said. Before reciting the Angelus prayer last Sunday, Pope Francis said that Christians are the “living stones” that Christ uses to fill in…
Ngala Killian Chimtom Barely three years after the highly contagious Ebola virus struck Sierra Leone, killing roughly 4,000 people with 14,000 confirmed cases, the impoverished West African country is once more in the throes of disaster. Weeks of heavy rain led to the collapse of a side of Sugar Loaf Mountain on August 14, crushing…
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was in Moscow last week for meetings with both government officials and leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. He held a news conference last Tuesday after seeing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, discussing areas where the two sides agree (persecution of Christians in the Middle East) and…
EXCLUSIVE There will be just six first year seminarians at the national seminary when classes resume later this month, according to figures obtained by The Irish Catholic. It is thought to be the lowest number on record in Maynooth’s 222 year history. While returns from 25 of the country’s 26 dioceses show that 15 men…
John L. Allen Jr.
Colm Fitzpatrick