The Church in South Korea has gathered over a million names on a petition to keep the country’s anti-abortion law in place. As South Korea continues to modernise and with the number of single mothers on the rise, calls to decriminalise abortion have increased from sectors of society. “The signature-gathering campaign was conducted voluntarily and it served as an opportunity to…
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Irish-American Archbishop of Newark, has apologised for what he described as an embarrassing gaffe on social media after he posted a message to Twitter which included “Nighty-night, baby. I love you”. Within two hours the tweet had been deleted, and a diocesan spokesman insisted that the cardinal was boarding a flight at the…
The decision by Irish financial institutions to sell tens of thousands of distressed mortgages this week will “undoubtedly” have an impact on efforts to tackle homelessness, an Irish charity has warned. After Ulster bank announced it will offload 7,000 distressed loans this morning (Friday 23) in addition to Permanent TSB’s (PTSB) 14,000 revealed earlier this…
Congo’s Catholic bishops denounced attempts to discredit their Church’s leaders and demanded the government lift a ban on peaceful demonstrations. The world “is witnessing poisonous campaigns of denigration and defamation, designed to weaken our Church’s moral force,” said a statement from the bishops’ conference. “Unswerving in our faith in Jesus Christ, king of the universe,…
A new plan to focus on Ireland’s religious heritage could lead to a massive influx of spiritual tourists from abroad as well as a rebirth of spirituality for Irish Catholics, organisers have said. Sharon Hearty from Lough Derg predicted that spiritual tourism in Ireland could even become the “new Camino”, a pilgrimage which saw more…
The decision to reappoint only two non-religious members of the Vatican’s child protection commission has been described as “disappointing” by leading advocate and former commission member Marie Collins, adding that this is “not a hopeful sign”. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was established in 2014 for a three-year period, closing on December…
Northern politicians need to fight for a Brexit that suits the people of the North, Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown has said. “For the sake of peace on the island, as well as for the sake of economic development on the island, we need to have those who are elected in some sort of a process…
The Pope’s city has lost the wine-drinking world title after being pipped at the post by a tiny island off the coast of Australia. The latest world wine consumption statistics show that per capita those on Norfolk Island enjoy a tipple slightly more than folk in the Vatican. Residents of the 8km long and 5km…
Eight months after ordering priests in a Nigerian diocese to pledge their obedience to the Pope and accept the bishop that now-retired Pope Benedict XVI had named for them, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of the disputed bishop. Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke, who since 2012 has been prevented from exercising his ministry as bishop of…
Well-known TV personality Norah Casey has taken on the task of raising around €15 million to finance the WMOF in August. Speaking on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, the former dragon said Pope Francis had given her back her faith. “Like most Irish people I have a chequered history with Catholicism,” she said, going from “cradle Catholic”…
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Susan Gately