Clergy at Portlaoise parish were “amazed” as over €16,000 was raised for Trócaire’s emergency East Africa appeal – five times more than they would receive in a normal week. The parish usually get €3,000 each week from their offertory collection, but this was far surpassed by the collection held late last month. Msgr John Byrne…
Bishops in Kenya have urged citizens to vote peacefully as an election on August 8 looms – while a drought ravages the nation. Historically elections in Kenya have been extremely violent, with over 1,000 people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in 2007 and 2008. The Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop…
The martyrdom of a French priest who was killed by Islamist extremists has brought the Muslim and Christian communities closer together, according to Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen. On the anniversary of the terror attack last week the archbishop said the event “transformed” him. Fr Jacques Hamel was killed at the age of 85 when…
Chinese authorities have ordered journalists not to describe an outspoken retired cardinal as the ‘emeritus’ bishop of Hong Kong, but to use ‘former’ instead. Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun was outspoken in his disdain for the ruling Communist Party, and raised issues regarding political freedom, human rights and religious persecution. He expressed a willingness to get…
Human trafficking is “brutal, savage and criminal,” Pope Francis said, but often it seems like people see it as a sad, but normal fact of life. “I want to call everyone to make a commitment to seeing that this perverse plague, a modern form of slavery, is effectively countered,” the Pope said on July 30,…
Meeting migrants makes you realise they are human beings, and they “have suffered much” according to the Director of Caritas Internationalis. Michael Roy says that listening to the stories of migrants and refugees should help people transcend prejudice. “You may be afraid of migrants as a large group of people coming in, but when you…
New US ambassador to the Holy See US President Donald Trump has nominated Callista Gingrich to be his ambassador to the Holy See. She will face several challenges representing the US in the Vatican, particularly following Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement, while Pope Francis has made clear that care for the environment…
Pope Francis and the Vatican have “tried very hard” to find a solution that’s “peaceful and democratic” in Venezuela. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, told Italian media the Vatican wanted to “help all without destruction”. On Sunday a referendum was held to elect a body to re-write Venezuela’s constitution, a matter which has…
EXCLUSIVE A ‘hard border’ across Ireland is “unthinkable” and could be devastating for the North, Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor has warned. “A hard border is really inconceivable and no longer viable and would be detrimental in so many different levels and arenas of life,” Dr Treanor told The Irish Catholic, highlighting the needs…
Bishop Denis Nulty has described the first ever diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes from Kildare and Leighlin as a “huge experience” after 1,300 people from every parish in the diocese visited the French Marian shrine. Describing how he “enjoyed every bit” of the pilgrimage, Dr Nulty had nothing but praise for the “vast crowd” that had…
Greg Daly