Cardinal Vincent Nichols, along with several religious leaders, has condemned the attack on Muslims in London this week. A white van was driven into a group of people who had just left the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, killing one man and injuring up to 10. A 47-year-old man was detained by people at…
Pope Francis expressed his “closeness” to the people of Portugal after deadly forest fires killed over 60 people. After reciting the Marian prayer last Sunday in St Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned the disaster, which occurred in the south-east of Coimbra. Three days of national mourning were declared after a severe heatwave, with temperatures in…
Weeks into Ramadan, authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have punished at least 100 ethnic minority Muslims for breaking the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling. The party have put restrictions on observance of the religious fasting month, an exile group said. Since Muslims in China began observing dawn-to-dusk fasting and other restrictions last month the…
One of Ireland’s first permanent deacons has been appointed to run the new National Vocations Office, which officially opens on July 1. Rev. Eric Cooney, who was ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 2012, will act as administrator of the new office. The office, which will be based in Maynooth’s…
Italian police have found the relic of St John Bosco which was stolen earlier this month. The relic of the saint’s brain was discovered in a copper teapot in a kitchen cupboard last week. The alleged perpetrator of the crime is a 42-year old man with a criminal record, residing in Pirenolo, Turin. He was…
The Catholic Church in Southern Africa will celebrate 200 years of existence for a whole year beginning this month. An inaugural Mass of Thanksgiving will be held in Cape Town’s St Mary’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt on June 25, which will begin the celebrations. On June 7, 1818, Pope Pius…
Staff Reporter Vatican officials will closely monitor reforms at Maynooth aimed at ensuring the national seminary can move on from recent controversies, The Irish Catholic understands. The hierarchy announced after its recent general meeting that Fr Michael Mullaney will take over as college president on September 1 for a period of three years. Crucially, the…
Fr Liam O’Donovan SAC pictured with his family after his ordination by Bishop Phonsie Cullinan in the Church of the Assumption, in Slieverue, Co. Kilkenny on Saturday.
Controversy has arisen over the nomination of an Anglican professor – who agrees with abortion in certain circumstances – to the Pontifical Academy for Life. The academy is against abortion and is committed to involving increasing numbers of people in the defence of human life according to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the academy president. Critics have…
A Catholic nun has been charged with abducting tribal girls for religious conversion in India. Sr Beena Joseph, a member of the Carmelite Sisters of St Teresa congregation, was on her way to the Madhya Pradesh state capital of Bhopal from the eastern state of Jharkhand along with four tribal girls. She was accused of taking…
Colm Fitzpatrick