In Short An Australian native pronounced his first solemn vows as a Benedictine monk in Meath, and was reminded during the homily why he left his native home to become a monk. Dom Mark Kirby OSM, Conventual Prior, asked Bro. Cassian Maria Aylward: “Why did you leave your father and your mother, and your…
Vatican Roundup Pope Francis has said the silence that precedes the opening prayer at Mass is an opportunity for Christians to commend to God the fate of the Church and the world. Departing from his prepared text at his weekly General Audience, the Pope urged priests “to observe this brief silence and not hurry”.…
Letter from Rome Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, gave a talk at Notre Dame’s Global Gateway facility in Rome addressed to ecumenical and inter-faith experts, which laid out the Church’s post-Vatican II approach to ecumenism and the new directions the press to bring Christians together is getting…
Vatican Roundup The difficulties accepting Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia are probably connected to accepting the new attitude and approach to providing pastoral care according to the Vatican Secretary of State. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the Pope’s exhortation on the family “flowed from a new paradigm that Pope Francis is pursuing with wisdom, with…
Irish people should watch out for migrants being exploited in our communities, and should guard against being “insular”. Responding to Pope Francis’ World Message of Peace and his address to diplomats connected with the Vatican this week, Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns said Irish people know too well the realities of migrating for a better…
Saoirse Ronan’s Golden Globe triumph is for a film about “a strange and surprising breakthrough of grace”, according to a prominent Los Angeles-based bishop. The 23-year-old Irish actress won her first Golden Globe award on Sunday for her performance as the title character Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson in the film Lady Bird. She had previously…
Sign of peace up to bishops Removing the sign of peace due to flu outbreak will not be rolled out across Ireland’s dioceses. “There is not a collective position on this – it is a matter for each individual diocese,” Martin Long, spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference, told The Irish Catholic. The HSE has…
Nations must find peaceful ways to deal with conflict, because everyone has the right to life and liberty, Pope Francis told diplomats accredited to the Vatican while outlining the need for disarmament and dialogue. The Pope called for debate on the stockpiling of weapons and conflict resolution that “avoids polarising the international community” in his…
The Christmas holidays weren’t just a time for family, friends and recreation for one group of Irish people who spent the week after St Stephen’s day 7,000 kilometres from home, building a dairy in Burkino Faso. Flying out on December 27 and not returning to Ireland until January 6, Cavan optician Paul Connolly and seven…
Church leaders in the Congo have condemned security forces’ attacks on Catholic protestors that have left at least eight people dead and 120 detained. The Vatican Embassy in Kinshasa backed local church officials, saying that “the promotion of social justice and the defence of political and civil rights of citizens are an integral part of…
John L. Allen Jr.
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Susan Gately