Staff Reporter Ballyfermot residents who have blocked efforts to begin work on a €12million social housing development are concerned about the lack of resources in the area, according to their parish priest. The housing co-operative Nabco was given permission in 2008 to build the houses at a site owned by Dublin City Council in Ballyfermot’s…

Members of the Pro Life Campaign outside the Central Bank in Dublin at the launch of the LoveBoth Project to highlight the benefits of Ireland’s constitutional protections for the unborn. The project advocates the introduction of more practical supports for families facing unplanned or difficult pregnancies.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has indicated it may have to cancel services during the Advent and Christmas periods following a bomb attack at a church on the first Sunday of Advent. The blast happened on November 27 at a church in the city of Esperanza, on the island of Mindanao, and appears to…

Norwegian diocese fined for overstating Catholic numbers A Catholic diocese in Norway has been fined for overstating its number of faithful in order to receive a greater amount of state aid. Investigators in Oslo believe that diocesan staff went through telephone directories to locate the names of immigrants whose names suggested a Catholic country as…

The Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin has urged people to find time in the hectic schedule of shopping and Christmas preparation to pray. As he launched the Irish bishops’ 2016 online Advent calendar (www.catholicbishops.ie) this week, Dr Martin said: “As Advent is the season of preparation for the coming of our Lord, I…

More prelates intervene in Amoris Laetitia row The row centred on the Pope’s encyclical on the family, Amoris Laetitia, rumbles on. Following last week’s intervention by four cardinals seeking to question Pope Francis’ knowledge of Church teaching on the family, and the rebuke by the Pontiff and a subsequent invitation from Cardinal Blase Cupich of…

The number of homeless people sleeping rough in Dublin has risen by more than 50% since last year, according to Fr Peter McVerry. A count by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive last week found that 140 individuals were sleeping on the streets and in doorways, compared to 91 counted at the same time last year. …

Cuban expatriates hoping for a new chapter of freedoms in their country celebrate the death of Fidel Castro in Little Havana, a neighbourhood of Miami, November 26. Castro, who seized power in a 1959 revolution and governed Cuba until 2006, died November 25 at the age of 90. Photo: CNS

The Archdiocese of Dublin has issued an appeal for parishioners to donate foodstuffs to its Crosscare appeal for those in need this Christmas.  Commencing with Masses taking place this weekend, Crosscare is accepting donations for its collection of non-perishable food items and hygiene products to stock its seven food banks in time for the season.…

Inés san Martín Fidel Castro, Cuba’s communist leader who died on November 25 at the age of 90, was by far the most dominant figure in Cuba’s one-party state which he ruled with an iron fist for almost five decades before handing over the powers to his brother Raúl in 2008. A hero to the left across the…