The US bishops’ head of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty has called on President-elect Donald Trump to undo those executive orders and mandates enacted by President Barack Obama which, the bishops insist, negatively impact on religious liberty. In a guest column for Catholic News Service, Archbishop William Lori writes: “The federal government has…
Category: News
Actor’s ‘Jesuit preparation’ for film role
The actor Andrew Garfield, who stars in the forthcoming Silence has spoken of how he joined his co-stars Liam Neeson and Adam Driver for a seven-day silent retreat before their portrayals of Jesuits in the Martin Scorcese film of Christianity’s beginnings in 17th-Century Japan. “If I’d had 10 years, it wouldn’t have been enough to…
British Christians should be able to speak openly of faith
Britain’s Prime Minister Teresa May has said Christians should be able to speak openly of their faith in the workplace. Ms May’s comments came in response to an intervention by MP Fiona Bruce during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament last week in which she raised concerns felt by Christians that they could be disciplined or…
Church urged to ‘step up to the plate’ and defend North’s unborn
The Catholic Church needs to speak up for Northern Ireland’s unborn children ahead of the biggest threat they have faced in years, a leading campaigner has said. “We’re very hopeful that the Church will make a public statement in regard to this latest threat to Northern Ireland’s unborn children,” Precious Life founder Bernadette Smyth told…
Vatican Roundup
Vatican watchdog will not comment on Amoris Laetitia issue As the row about the Pope’s Amoris Laetitia encyclical continues, the prefect for the Congregation of the Faith (CDF) has said that he cannot respond to the questions – the dubia – posed by four cardinals in a letter to the Pontiff. Speaking during an interview…
SVP braces for huge demand
The Society of St Vincent de Paul expects to help 140,000 people in need over the Christmas season, it has revealed. As it undertakes its annual appeal for donations, the society said that despite signs of recovery in areas of the economy, calls to its offices nationwide were still at recession levels and set to…
Celebrating St Barbara
People pray on the feast of St Barbara, December 4 at St Barbara Church in Havana, Cuba. Barbara was an early Christian Greek martyr, whose relics lie today in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo: CNS
An Post rises will affect elderly more
John Reid Age Action has sharply criticised the State’s intention to repeal the postal price cap “without consultation or discussion”. Spokesman Justin Moran said: “The price has already increased twice in the last two years and many older people, who prefer to send letters and cards rather than emails, will be disappointed to hear another…
Syriac patriarch ‘horrified’ after seeing ‘ghost towns’
Doreen Abi Raad The Syriac Catholic patriarch said he was horrified to see widespread devastation and what he called “ghost towns” during a recent visit to northern Iraq. Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan wrote in an email to Catholic News Service that there was little left in some of the communities that he toured November …
Capuchins back down from suggestions of 1916 surrender letter theft
Ireland’s Capuchins have backed down from intimations that a 1916 surrender letter by Patrick Pearse, put forward for sale by auction this week, was improperly removed from the order’s archives. The letter, described by Adams Auctioneers as “the most significant Irish document to be offered for sale”, directed Cmdt Edward Daly, leading the Volunteers’ First…