Catholic voters in the UK should approach the coming referendum on withdrawal from the European Union not merely as an economic question, but in light of what would best serve the common good, the bishops of England and Wales have said. The outcome of the referendum “will have consequences for the future not only of…

The family of Cork nurse Karen Buckley, who was murdered in Scotland last year, have thanked their parish priest for being a “rock of support”. In a statement released for her one-year anniversary Mass in Analeentha, Co. Cork her family said they had received thousands of Mass cards, flowers and wreaths from “all over Ireland,…

Over the last number of months, a number of enthusiastic RE and music teachers within the Archdiocese of Tuam have been working on a new project which will bring 300 young people together to perform a charity concert. Awakening will be a performance of a combination of modern church and contemporary music which will raise…

A Canadian government bill to legalise euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has been opposed by the country’s bishops, who have called it “an affront to human dignity, an erosion of human solidarity and a danger to all vulnerable persons”. Among those endangered by the bill, the bishops said, are the elderly, infirm, disabled and sick, many…

Pop superstar Katy Perry is now free to buy a convent in Los Angeles after a judge ruled against the nuns’ attempt to sell the property to a restaurateur. The hit singer’s offer last year to buy the Roman villa on an eight-acre hilltop estate for $14.5 million (€12.7 million) was rejected by the Sisters…

A group of 13 ladies, two men and two children visited the convent of the Holy Rosary Sisters in Temple Road, Dublin, laden with music and delicious food to thank the sisters for the work they have done in Africa. The group represented the Women Intercessors for the Church and the Nations, also known as…

Philippine Catholics should pray the Rosary each day until the May 9 elections, the country’s bishops have said. On behalf of the national bishops’ conference, Lingayen-Dagupan’s Archbishop Socrates Villegas issued a statement reminding voters of the power of prayer. “Pray the mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory every day, until May 9,” he said.…

The number of diocesan priests in Ireland has plummeted by more than 500 in just 10 years, according to the latest official statistics. The most significant fall off was between the years 2013 and 2014, when the number of priests dropped by 120 in the 12-month period. Vatican figures show that while there were 3,141…

The local faith development group in the Diocese of Galway, tSli Chriost, has produced and distributed a May altar leaflet in order to spread knowledge of and devotion to Our Lady through the erection of May altars.  These leaflets have proved popular with parishioners throughout the diocese with homes, schools and churches taking part in…

Pope’s meeting with Sanders wasn’t endorsement Pope Francis has dismissed suggestions that he has somehow endorsed US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders by meeting with him in the Vatican. The Vermont senator was in the Vatican to participate in the ‘Centesimus Annus’ Conference on Catholic Social Teaching and had stayed the night at Casa Santa Marta, where the Pope lives. Speaking…