With a visit Saturday morning to the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki and then a Mass at Krakow’s sprawling Sanctuary of St John Paul II, Pope Francis paid homage to his storied predecessor Saturday morning and to St Faustina Kowalska, whose legacies hang over his Year of Mercy. Popes pay tribute to their predecessors…
In a double first for the The Society of St Columban, the congregation has appointed a woman as the first lay editor of its mission magazine, The Far East. Journalist Sarah MacDonald, a specialist in religious affairs and former reporter for The Irish Catholic, takes over from Fr Cyril Lovett SSC. Welcoming MacDonald’s appointment, Fr…
John Costelloe, Tulla Rd, Ennis has been awarded a Bene Merenti award after over 55 years of involvement with the St Vincent de Paul society in Clare. The Ballygriffey native, who has worked for Clare County Council and in Shannon Development, has been involved at all levels of the society, serving as conference president and…
Understand the enemy and you can beat him, writes Paul Keenan
Hollywood star Chris Pratt is urging his followers on social media to pray for a four-year-old fan battling brain cancer. A faithful Christian, Pratt, the star of blockbuster hits Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, says the power of prayer saved his own son when he was born premature and Pratt still regularly shares…
A jubilee Mass in St Malachy’s Dominican Church, Dundalk, celebrated by Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh to mark 800 years of the Dominican order, proved a triple celebration. Not merely did the Mass acknowledge the role of the Dominicans, who established themselves in Dundalk in 1777 from their 14th-Century base in Carlingford, in the area,…
Unborn children have significant legal rights far beyond their right to life, a High Court judge has ruled. Pointing out that an “unborn” is “clearly a child”, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys said that article 42a of Bunreacht na hÉireann, entered into the Constitution last year following the 2012 Children’s Referendum, imposes duties towards unborn children…
Thousands of Christians are reportedly trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo as the battle by government troops to recapture it enters its final stages. Having endured the heaviest shelling of the conflict in recent weeks ahead of an advance by forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad on rebel lines, Christians and other…
Belfast’s Church of Ireland cathedral has appointed its first ever Catholic Ecumenical Canon. Fr Edward O’Donnell, Parish Priest of St Brigid’s, Belfast, will be the first Catholic priest to serve on the Cathedral Chapter of St Anne’ Cathedral. He will join the Methodist and Presbyterian canons, both of whom are named Ruth Patterson, in working…
The Catholic Bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have called for a national dialogue towards avoiding “chaos” in the nation amid the threat of delayed elections. With President Laurent Kabila resisting calls to step aside by the end of the year, as required by the DRC’s constitution, there are suspicions that moves to…
John L. Allen Jr.
Courtney McGrail
Greg Daly
Paul Keenan