The Catholic Bishops of the US have voiced objections to proposals to allow scientists to commence research involving human-animal hybrids. In a message submitted to the National Institutes of Health, a division of the Department of Health, the prelates sounded a warning over the ethical arguments surrounding “beings who do not fully belong to either…
Category: News
St Maximilian Kolbe relic to visit Ireland
The relic of the saint who was martyred to save the life of another prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland will be in Ireland for the first time in October. The relic of St Maximilian Kolbe will be present at the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fairview, Dublin on October…
Profession at Glenstal Abbey
Br Kevin Madigan OSB (left) after his recent Simple Profession of Monastic Vows at Glenstal Abbey, pictured with Abbot Brendan Coffey OSB.
Syrian Christians remain strong in faith – abducted priest
Fr Jacques Mourad, the Jesuit priest who escaped the clutches of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) after five months in captivity in 2015 has said the faith of Christians in Syria remains strong despite the conflict there. Now ministering in Sulaymaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Fr Mourad was formerly prior of the Monastery of Mar Elian in…
Plan to merge Catholic Central Library with DCU now ‘in danger’
Staff Reporter A plan to let Dublin City University take on the running of the historic Catholic Central Library in Merrion Square, Dublin, now looks to be danger after the Annual General Meeting of the members of the library last week. New members were elected to the board of the library and a majority appear to…
Poor understanding of end-of-life care unsurprising – Bishop Doran
A report suggesting that more than half of Irish adults don’t fully understand what end-of-life palliative care involves is probably accurate, Bishop Kevin Doran has said. The Bishop of Elphin’s comments followed an announcement by the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care that more than half of those surveyed admit to having at…
Extremist pressure on Indonesian Christians continues
In a sign of rising tensions for the Christian community in Indonesia, Muslim extremists have interrupted a Mass in Central Java, little over a week after a priest was attacked by an axe-wielding assailant at another celebration. During the celebration in the parish of St Peter Purwosari, near Surakarta, two men in the congregation of…
‘Live by faith’ says former head of US school where massacre occurred
Counselling and faith were what got the principal of Columbine High School through the horrific events and aftermath of September 20, 1999 when 14 students of a high school and a teacher were massacred by two shooters. Frank DeAngelis (62) came to prominence as the principal who stood with the school and rebuilt a broken…
Sisters reject claims over land transfer for hospital delay
The Sisters of Mercy have rejected claims that delays in transferring land in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin for the National Rehabilitation Hospital are their responsibility. The hospital was promised the site in 2009 as part of a State deal to increase compensation payments for abuses in religious-run institutions. In a statement, the sisters said: “We…
Vatican Roundup
Pope prays for nun murdered in Haiti Pope Francis has offered prayers for a Spanish missionary sister killed in Haiti. At the conclusion of events marking the canonisation of St Teresa of Kolkata in Rome on September 4, the Pope recalled Sr Isabel Sola Macas, murdered in a robbery on September 2. “At this moment, I would like to remember those…