The independent watchdog which monitors handling of abuse allegations in the Irish Church has seen its “sharpest decline” in allegations since it started keeping records. The National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) received 86 new allegations during the period 2016/2017. The allegations include 72 relating to sexual…
Organisers have issued an appeal for at least 3,000 volunteers to assist with the planning and organising of the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) and expected papal visit to Dublin next year. More than 1,500 people have expressed an interest in helping, but twice that number is needed to form part of the operational team…
Staff reporter A social media campaign by the Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin asking for suggestions for the 2017 parish Christmas gift has been an “outstanding success”. Bishop Denis Nulty, who made the appeal in a video, told The Irish Catholic it was the first time the diocese had tried “this way of engaging with…
Pope Francis has announced he will create five new cardinals next month, one of whom has dedicated his appointment to slain archbishop, Blessed Oscar Romero. Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez from El Salvador said he was surprised when he received a call from the Vatican at 5am on May 21, and expressed his “profound gratitude” to…
Ordinary Catholics support Pope Francis, the head of Pope’s ‘kitchen cabinet’ has said, criticising Cardinal Raymond Burke, who in 2014 Pope Francis removed from his position as head of the Apostolic Signura, as “a disappointed man” who “wanted power and lost it”. Describing opponents of the Holy Father as “proud” and “arrogant”, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez…
Staff Reporter It may have been a coincidence or a moment of singular grace, but few could fail to remark on the significance that Portugal’s win in the Eurovision Song Contest at the weekend – the first in that country’s 49 attempts – came on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. As Salvador Sobral…
Ambar Calvo, a 20-year-old student of architecture at the University of Panama, was the winner of the competition among 103 entries for the next World Youth Day logo, to be held in Panama from January 22-27, 2019. Msgr José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, Archbishop of Panama, said the design managed to capture the message the country…
Mark Patrick Hederman’s latest book, in which he explores the search for a new ethics for Ireland, has entered the bestsellers list just weeks after publication. The Opal and the Pearl examines sexuality in the lives and writings of James Joyce, Iris Murdoch and W.B. Yeats. Published by Columba Press, the book by the former…
Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti has urged the international community to focus on alleviating the drought in Somalia, as six million people experience severe food shortages and contend with the al-Shabab extremist group. Bishop Bertin expressed fear that the country may slip into a famine if action was delayed. “The Somali government, international community and…
The commission investigating alleged visions of Our Lady at Medjugorje has reportedly recommended early apparitions be accepted as authentic, but casts doubt upon later claims of visions. According to reports in the Italian media this week, the overwhelming majority of the 15-member body voted in favour of recognising the supernatural nature of the first seven…
Mags Gargan
Courtney McGrail