Using public funds to pay private landlords to house homeless people is not sustainable due to the increasing cost and lack of housing according to Fr Peter McVerry. In the Peter McVerry Trust’s Annual Report 2016 the accommodation team stated that throughout 2016 there was a need to secure “exceptional payments” above the rent supplement…
A huge proportion of young people leaving State care are becoming homeless as social workers scramble to find accommodation, according to several Irish charities. The Department of Youth Affairs offers an aftercare service which aims to offer guidance and practical supports with regards to education, financial support, social network support and training for young people…
New In Brief The young pupils of a Limerick school surprised a grateful priest by reuniting him with his All-Ireland winning medals. The Confirmation class of Caherline National School were asked to choose an act of kindness, and decided to help Fr Par Currivan after he mentioned he had lost the medals from the menor…
News In Brief The North’s pro-life laws should be supported, a leading member of the SDLP has said. Noting how almost nine million children have been aborted in Britain since the passage of the 1967 Abortion Act, Alban Maginness, Belfast North MLA from 1998 to 2016, wrote in The Belfast Telegraph that over 100,000 babies…
Hypocrisy, like that of the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time, is not the only temptation that continues to plague religious communities, Pope Francis said. Pride also is a great danger. “We disciples of Jesus should not seek titles of honour, authority or supremacy,” the Pope has said. “I tell you, it personally pains me…
The US Catholic Church stands “in unity” with the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and the larger community after a shooting during Sunday services took the lives of at least 25 people and injured several more. “A Culture of Life cannot tolerate, and must prevent, senseless gun violence in all its forms,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo…
Catholic universities need to study the root causes of forced migration and ways to counter the discrimination and xenophobic reactions it provokes in so many traditionally Christian nations, Pope Francis said. “I would also like to invite Catholic universities to teach their students, some of whom will become leaders in politics, business and culture, a…
The threat of violent extremism remains in the predominantly Catholic Philippines even after the end of a five-month siege by terrorists in a southern city, said Catholic and Muslim officials. Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Philippines bishops’ Public Affairs Committee said that according to some analysts and the president, “terrorist cells are already…
The Polish Prime Minister has pledged to save a cross set to be removed from beside a statue of former Pope John Paul II in a French town because it breached the rules of secularism. This has sparked a diplomatic feud as Poland says it will save the work from the “dictates of social correctness”…
In Brief The Cursillo movement recently celebrated the golden jubilee of its presence in South Korea with local members affirming their dedication to renewing the church and spreading Christian values. Some 4,700 ‘Cursillistas’ attended a Ultreya gathering at a gymnasium in Seoul’s Olympic Park where the jubilee was celebrated. The event was organised by the Seoul…
Chai Brady