Staff Reporter Bishop Francis Duffy has expressed his shock and sadness at desecration of a Longford church. It was discovered on Easter Sunday morning that St Michael’s Church, Shroid, in Longford parish was broken into and the tabernacle stolen. The church had not been in use over the Easter period when all parish ceremonies took…
A return to ‘structured dialogue’ between the Government and Church leaders would be of great value as society becomes more pluralist, it has been claimed. The Lisbon Treaty places an obligation on the EU to have a regular dialogue with religious and non-confessional organisations on EU policies and legislative proposals. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern set…
Sr Jean Quinn, Daughter of Wisdom, has become the first Irish woman to be appointed to the post of Executive Director of Unanima International, based at the United Nations in New York. Unanima International is a non-government organisation and its work focuses on supporting women, children, migrants (especially those effected by poverty) and the environment. It has…
Pro-life campaigners in the North have called on people to push the SDLP to explain why they have suspended three councillors who abstained from voting in a motion that called for women not to be intimidated by “harassment” from anti-abortion campaigners. The Belfast City Council vote, calling for councillors to condemn any such harassment across…
Fr Paul Farren (second right) with Pope John Paul II Award participants from the Diocese of Derry who performed a Passion Play in St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry at the weekend.
Over 1,000 young people, who are currently participating or have received the Pope John Paul II Award in the last ten years, gathered at Knock Shrine on April 5 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the award. When the award was launched in Derry in 2006 by the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, it was…
Kerry diocese celebrates Ceiliúradh na nOg Over 350 students, representing 14 post-primary schools from throughout the diocese, attended the Ceiliúradh na nÓg celebration day in the Brandon Hotel in Tralee, Co. Kerry. The students presented their projects which they carried out over the academic year. The purpose of Ceiliúradh na nÓg is to develop the…
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made waves this week with a blistering statement about reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in a recent attack on a rebel stronghold, calling it “brutal, unabashed barbarism.” Tillerson’s rhetoric raised eyebrows, given that just last week, during a visit to Turkey, Tillerson had said…
The Church has thrown its support behind an ambitious new film series aimed to energise young Christians and help them tackle doubts they might have about their Faith. The eight-part NUA film series was launched at Dublin’s Gonzaga College last month ahead of the release of census figures that show significant declines in numbers of…
Congo’s bishops say Catholics are facing a new wave of violence following the collapse of a Church mediation plan, and in some places Church leaders have fled to the forest. In late March, the bishops abandoned attempts to arrange a government-opposition power-sharing settlement and, within days, violence erupted in eastern Congo. “The militias are continuing…
Mags Gargan
Greg Daly
Courtney McGrail
John L. Allen Jr.