Holy See signs and ratifies anti-nuclear weapon treaty The Holy See has ratified and signed the new UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The high-level Vatican diplomat who signed the treaty told a UN conference that the Catholic Church supports efforts “to move progressively toward a world free of nuclear weapons”. Archbishop Paul…
An official of the Oblates Youth Service said they would be “cautious” booking with Ryanair again after their 79 strong group was stranded for hours in a French airport coming home from Lourdes. Over the weekend, after the Lourdes volunteers had been assisting the elderly and the sick for a week, the group’s flight…
Church officials fear that newly revised religious affairs regulations released by the Chinese government, supposedly aimed at protecting national security, will be used to further suppress religious activities. Earlier in September, Premier Li Keqiang announced that a state council order on the new regulations would take effect on February 1. Anthony Lam, executive secretary of…
A Kenyan cardinal has called on politicians to restrain their supporters in the lead up to Kenya’s second election after the previous vote tally was annulled. Cardinal John Njue, the current Archbishop of Nairobi, called for dialogue instead of violence. As tensions grow between the current Jubilee government and its main opposition the National Super…
Leading legal and historical scholars of Bunreacht na hÉireann have rejected claims by an independent TD that the Irish Constitution was written by a priest. Speaking in the Dáil, Dublin South-Central TD Joan Collins said: “The Constitution is not fit for purpose and needs replacement. It was written by a Catholic priest in the 1930s…
Inés San Martín After statements from several Australian bishops reaffirming Church teaching to Catholics in the country ahead of an upcoming vote on same-sex marriage, two bishops are singing outside the chorus, with one of them saying it’s a “decision each person is free to make”. Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen, appointed by Pope Francis…
Junno Arocho Esteves Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil was sitting in a room in an unknown location, one of several he had been relocated to during his 18-month imprisonment, when he received some unexpected news. “Those who kept me came to where I slept and said, ‘I bring you good news. We are sending you home.…
Despite goals to end global hunger by 2030, the latest report from the UN shows the number of undernourished people has increased rapidly. The number of people lacking adequate food on the planet increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’…
Vatican diplomat embroiled in child pornography case A member of the Vatican diplomatic corps serving in Washington has been recalled to the Vatican as he is involved in a criminal investigation regarding child pornography, the Vatican said. The Vatican was informed by the US State Department “of a possible violation of laws relating to child…
An Irish missionary based in Myanmar has called for Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi to return her Nobel Peace Prize because of her refusal to condemn the “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims in her country. Columban Fr Neil Magill, who has been teaching in Myanmar for 11 years, described the “brutal persecution against the Rohingya…
Chai Brady
Greg Daly
Mags Gargan