Irish bishops felt encouraged to face challenges by their Roman encounter, writes Michael Kelly It’s easy to dismiss the traditional ad limina visits that bishops make to Rome as out-dated. In an age of email and instant messaging, it hardly seems necessary for bishops from all over the world to travel to Rome every five…
“Confidence and hope” were the feelings reported last week among displaced Iraqi Christians as news emerged that forces combating so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul have driven the terror group from all parts of the east-side of the city and are set to launch a final push for the remainder. The reports of elation were…
Abortions in the United States have fallen to their lowest number since legalisation with the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organisation committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, 926,200 terminations were recorded in 2014, a decline of 32,500 over the previous year and the…
Michael Kelly in Rome and Paul Keenan in Dublin Pope Francis has encouraged the Church in Ireland to maintain and enhance the strong values of Catholic schools, despite a background of negativity from some vested interests. Speaking to the bishops in a closed-door meeting at the Vatican on Friday, the Pontiff said that to be…
Pope Francis speaking with Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All-Ireland, at the Irish bishops’ ad limina visit to Rome this week. Photo: Servizio Fotografi co/L’Osservatore Romano
Pope Francis has called for people to “wait and see” what newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump does in his leadership role and not rush to judgement. Amid a weekend of protests worldwide and angry denunciations on both sides of the political divide in America, Pope Francis’ was a voice of calm as he warned against…
Irish people frustrated by the escalating homelessness crisis have been urged to give vent to their feelings by offering their time volunteering for charities working in the frontline. The call comes after Irish bishops discussed the ongoing issue of homelessness during their meeting with Pope Francis in Rome at the weekend and told him about…
The Catholic bishops of Venezuela have called on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to set a date for elections as the nation continues to sink into economic disaster. Following a plenary meeting of the hierarchy, the bishops issued a pastoral exhortation, ‘Jesus Christ, the Light and the Way for Venezuela’, in which they state…
Oscar-winning singer Jennifer Hudson has spoken of the strength she found in faith after the trauma of losing her family to murder. The star, currently a panellist on television’s The Voice, became famous after an appearance on the reality show American Idol led her to a starring role in the film Dreamgirls, for which she…
Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta has voiced his sadness at negative reaction to the Maltese bishops’ new guidelines on the implementation of Amoris Laetitia. Following the January 13 issuing of Criteria for the Application of Chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia which advised priests that divorced-and-remarried Catholics who are “at peace with God…cannot be precluded from…
Michael Kelly
Courtney McGrail
Greg Daly