Ireland is performing in the bottom half of 15 similar European countries on a range of social, economic and environmental indicators, a new study has revealed. Published yesterday by Social Justice Ireland (SJI), Measuring Progress: Economy, Society and Environment in Ireland 2018 assessed performance across the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report highlighted Ireland’s…
An investigation into allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up in Chile will continue despite the prelate tasked with leading it having been admitted to hospital for gallbladder surgery, it has been announced. Malta’s Archbishop Charles Scicluna was in Chile to meet with survivors of abuse from Fr Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty…
When people are unable to love or accept a child with problems or illness, many times it’s because they are too weak themselves to be able to bear someone else’s vulnerabilities, Pope Francis told a group of children and young people who are wards of the state. “If I have a giant rock, I can’t…
The largest organisation representing General Practitioners in Ireland have decided to remain neutral in Ireland’s upcoming abortion referendum, it has been revealed. The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) issued a letter to members yesterday, February 15, acknowledging that each member was entitled to their opinions “as a matter of personal conscience”. “However, the Board…
Despite an agreement between the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar it could be years before Rohingya refugees living in squalid camps can return home, the secretary-general of the world’s largest Catholic charity has warned. Michael Roy of Caritas Internationalis said that it’s likely the Rohingya minority who fled Myanmar after a military crackdown will have…
US clergy have urged community members to come together “to support one another in this time of grief” after a mass shooting on St Valentine’s Day at a Broward County high school that left at least 17 people dead. “With God’s help, we can remain strong and resolute to resist evil in all its manifestations,”…
Jacob Zuma’s resignation as president of South Africa is long overdue, the country’s bishops have said, noting that his scandal-plagued presidency fostered corruption and dereliction of duty at all levels of government. “The fact that Mr. Zuma has been allowed to hold on to the highest position in the land despite long-standing and overwhelming evidence…
There is a huge discrepancy in marriage rates between social classes in the North, a new report has revealed. ‘Mind the Gap: Marriage and Family by Social Class in Northern Ireland’, published by the Iona Institute, shows that for many of the more socially disadvantaged in Northern Ireland the dream of walking down the aisle…
Pope Francis often meets on Fridays with survivors of sex abuse, he has said. Speaking to a group of Jesuits in Lima during his visit to Peru last month he revealed that these meetings, which he said do not always become public knowledge, make it clear that the survivors’ process of recovery “is very hard”.…
The Church must do everything possible to support women facing crisis pregnancies, the new Bishop of Galway has said. Dr Brendan Kelly told The Irish Catholic that Church and society need to “support them in every way that we possibly can if there’s a child on the way” pointing out that people must be unafraid…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady
Greg Daly