Prayers offered for the protection of life About 30,000 people gathered at almost 300 locations for last weekend’s ‘Rosary on the Coast’ initiative, organisers believe. Based on figures from groups around the country, it looks like the event was a huge success, according to pro-life campaigner and former MEP Kathy Sinnott. “Between a quarter and…
Firebrand left-wing TD Paul Murphy has contrasted the time Irish schools spend on religious and physical education, suggesting that a burgeoning obesity crisis among Irish children could be staved off by increasing time for physical exercise in the school curriculum. “If the Government is serious about an approach in terms of a healthy lifestyle then…
All Zimbabweans should have a voice in the country’s governance following Robert Mugabe’s 37-year presidency, and the new government should embrace diversity, Zimbabwe’s bishops said. Congratulating President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose November 24 inauguration followed a de facto coup, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference also thanked 93-year-old Mugabe for “the good work he did for Zimbabwe…
The archbishop of Dublin intervened to avoid a general election during the political row which led to the resignation of Tánaiste, Frances Fitzgerald. Pointing out the time and polarisation an election would involve, he told RTE news on Sunday last that “people will suffer”. Earlier at the reopening of Huntstown Church, damaged by a fire…
The Second Vatican Council continues to have an enduring impact on the Church and on the papacy of Pope Francis, according to the Vatican’s top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. That gathering of bishops from around the world presented a new paradigm of a “world Church – a Church with a global dimension”, said the cardinal,…
Government failures to settle refugees are not surprising, but a new scheme gives the Church the opportunity to step up and help, a leading priest has said. “It’s not surprising the system they’ve had in place is failing because it lacked a vision underpinning it about what integration is,” Fr Alan Hilliard told The Irish…
A diocesan bishop is the sole judge in the streamlined process for handling marriage annulments, Pope Francis has said. The simplified process “is not an option that the diocesan bishop can choose, but rather an obligation that derives from his consecration and from the mission received”, making the bishop the sole and exclusive authority in…
As Pope Francis continues his tour to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Catholics in neighbouring India regret missing a chance to meet him in their homeland, nostalgically recalling past papal visits, reported ucanews.com. Catholic groups began discussing plans to host the pontiff earlier this year, after the Vatican confirmed a papal visit to the region. According to…
Staff at the headquarters of the Church in Ireland are taking up the Pope’s challenge to go green looking about how they can practically take on board the Pope’s ecological letter Laudado Si’ on the care of creation. Around 20 members of the hierarchy’s secretariat attended a training day hosted by representatives from Trócaire and…
Letter from Canada The death of Gregory Baum on October 18 in Montreal marked the close of an era for the Catholic Church in Canada. But not only is it Canadian Catholicism that both mourns and celebrates the life and work of an inspiring nonagenarian; it is the universal Church as well. Baum was…
Greg Daly
Susan Gately