Be a voice for society’s unwanted Pope tells media Catholic media have a responsibility to be “spiritual antennas” that connect the world to the sufferings of the poor and the unwanted in society, especially prisoners on death row, Pope Francis has said. During an audience with journalists and collaborators of Telepace, an Italian Catholic television and radio station, the Pope encouraged them to…
Colm Fitzpatrick and Greg Daly Parishioners need to go the extra mile in reaching out to family and friends who are no longer practicing the Faith, bishops have urged. Given decreasing numbers of people attending Mass in Ireland, bishops have said the laity need to be creative and original in bringing back those who have fallen away. After…
Young people leaving State care continue to receive inadequate support, with those leaving residential care put in “particularly risky” situations including homelessness, according to Sr Stan. Speaking on behalf of Focus Ireland, she said Tusla’s aftercare social workers face huge caseloads which lead to children being assigned a caseworker but not receiving support. “Some, particularly…
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has performed a U-turn and will now file a complaint against religious sisters who have been accused of embezzling from a Catholic school at which they had worked for more than a decade. Sr Mary Margaret Kreuper CSJ and Sr Lana Chang CSJ, who both retired this year from St…
Confusion continues to surround the actions of the Religious Sisters of Charity around the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group and plans to build a new National Maternity Hospital, apparently without a religious ethos and all set to perform abortions on the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital in south Dublin. A year and a half ago the…
There has been a broad welcome in the Diocese of Clogher for Pope Francis’ decision to appoint a local priest, Msgr Larry Duffy, as bishop of the border diocese. His predecessor, Bishop Emeritus Liam MacDaid, hailed the unusual decision – new bishops in Ireland have tended of late to be external rather than internal appointments…
Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit prayed for the country on December 7, even as the French government dropped all fuel tax increases for 2019. The government move came after French cities were hit with weeks of violent protests, as French people demanded lower fuel taxes and better purchasing power. Images of rampage at the Arc de…
Catholic tribal leaders in India are worried over a move by Jharkhand’s government to take away tribal status from people who have left their traditional Sarna religion to join other faiths. The eastern state’s move will deprive thousands of tribal people of social benefits meant for their advancement. “It is a deliberate attempt to divide tribal people…
With bishops urging parishioners to be “creative and original” in encouraging family members and friends to come back to the Faith, the initiatives they have developed in their own dioceses set a shining example of how Catholics can be innovative in their own personal spheres of influence. The Mercy on the Mall event which has…
A Co. Down-based priest and writer has criticised this summer’s World Meeting of Families (WMOF) for watering down the Christian vision of the family to become more acceptable to current secular understandings of family life. Writing in The Furrow, Fr Andrew McMahon observes that although there were “unquestionably edifying aspects” of WMOF2018, a desire for…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady
Greg Daly