A Baptist church in the US state of Mississippi has become the focal point for goodwill across the world after it was the scene of an arson attack on November 1. Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville was gutted by a fire which took responding firefighters some hours to completely control. Investigators subsequently found evidence…

Just three members of the Irish hierarchy remain active members of Vatican departments, following the news that Tuam’s Archbishop Michael Neary is one of almost 20 prelates leaving the Vatican’s department of the liturgy. The Vatican announced on October 28 that 27 new members had been appointed to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the…

Last week, for a mere 60 hours – fleeting when set against the last 1,500 years  – the tomb of the crucified Jesus lay fully open for the first time within the sanctified confines of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.   With the power to move Christians everywhere, more locally the site’s…

UCD students who believe their student union should cease calling for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution have hailed as a moral victory a referendum defeat in the college.   UCD Students for Fair Representation (UCDSFFR) said they are “truly heartened and energised” by the campaign that ended with a 36% vote…

The family at the centre of the Ashers Bakery case has sent a message of thanks to the thousands of supporters in Northern Ireland who stood with them throughout the so-called ‘gay cake’ row. In a letter to churches and individual backers, Daniel McArthur, the general manager of Ashers, wrote: “I write to say how…

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin pictured with students of the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin, where the archbishop led the school’s inaugural Mass on October 26.   The Mass marked the opening of the school year at the amalgamated St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys and St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, located…

Fr Pat Egan SDB recalls the late Fr Michael Ross

The Church should have women priests, regardless of Pope Francis’ views on the matter, the leader of Ireland’s Green Party has said. Speaking in the Dáil about whether Ireland should have an annual public holiday to commemorate the Easter Rising, Eamon Ryan TD countered that such a holiday would be poorly timed, Easter Monday already…

Dr Mary Redmond, founder of the Irish Hospice Foundation, was sustained through her terminal illness by the strength of her faith, her son has revealed. Speaking at a gala dinner in honour of his late mother on October 21, Patrick Ussher said that when she received the devastating news of cancer, she decided to “surrender…

Knock Basilica will this weekend be the centre of a moving and evocative Marbhna 1916 Requiem Mass in Irish to remember all of those who died in 1916. The Mass, to be celebrated at noon on Sunday, November 6, will be celebrated by Achonry’s Bishop Brendan Kelly, accompanied by music composed by Odhrán O’Casaide.  …