The failure to institute a redress scheme for children who lived in Northern residential homes has been described as “deeply regrettable” by the Diocese of Down and Connor. Sir Anthony Hart’s Historical Institutional Abuse (HIAI) Report, published in January 2017, had examined the provision of care in a number of residential homes between 1922 and…
Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry has praised the announcement of a ceasefire by a dissident republican group. Óglaigh na hÉireann which has been responsible for a number of attacks, including the attempted murder of Catholic PSNI member Peadar Heffron in 2010, declared the ceasefire yesterday afternoon following negotiations with trade unionists. Bishop McKeown said: “I…
The Pope has called on journalists to search for the truth in an era characterised by ‘fake news’. The comments come after the unprecedented bad press the Pontiff faced during his recently-concluded South American tour where he visited Chile and Peru. Fake news grabs people’s attention “by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and…
Priest pleads with bishop for more exorcists in Ireland Strange occurrences and even demonic possession have caused a leading Irish expert to call on Church leaders to appoint a team of exorcists to cope with what he sees as a rising tide of evil in the country. While for many exorcisms of those possessed…
Greg Daly and Chai Brady Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has praised Cranberries’ frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan as an artist of deep spirituality after her sudden death in London on Monday. He said her “rise to stardom gave a huge amount of belief to young people locally at the time. She was a true child of Limerick; talented, honest,…
Catholics in Belgium are concerned the country’s euthanasia law is being abused to kill patients without legal checks and safeguards. Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels said “not just the Church’s hierarchy, but doctors and medical professionals as well” were concerned. The Belgian Church’s Cathobel news agency published an article saying the Federal Euthanasia Control…
The vice president of the German bishops’ conference has urged a debate on whether Catholic clergy should bless same-sex unions. “I’m concerned with fundamental questions of how we deal with each other; although ‘marriage for all’ differs clearly from the Church’s concept of marriage, it’s now a political reality,” said Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck.…
A war of words has broken out between the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) leadership team and priests from the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, after Fr Gerard Breen, secretary to the diocese’s council of priests, wrote saying the council “strongly disagreed” with a card the ACP sent to clergy advising them on what to…
In Brief Right-wing Hindu students clashed with police in central India after they tried to storm a Catholic-run college to conduct a Hindu religious rite, according to Church sources. About 800 students from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) group were charged by police after trying to gain access to St Mary’s College in…
A Chinese priest involved with the country’s underground Catholic Church has been missing ever since government officials took him just after Christmas for “re-educating”. Fr Lu Danhua of Lishui Diocese of China’s eastern Zhejiang province was the only priest of the diocese, and took over from Kenneth Roderick Turner of Scarboro Foreign Mission Society from 1948…
Colm Fitzpatrick
Chai Brady
Greg Daly