Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the Vaticanís new Secretary of State, has assumed his post after a period of recuperation from illness. Archbishop Parolin was installed as Secretary of State in absentia on October 15 when an unexpected surgical procedure forced him to remain in hospital. Following his release, the archbishop took time in the city of…

The parents of Msgr Mark O’Toole came from Lettermore, Galway

United States – A number of senators have issued a joint letter to President Barack Obama urging him to again intervene in the case of Christian Pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran for his faith. Praising Mr Obama for having previously raised the pastor’s case with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani during the pair’s historic telephone…

Time is running out for Irish Catholics to express their views to the Vatican on controversial issues around marriage and the family.

A newly established confraternity for Irish clergy hopes to support clerics in their lives and ministry, the group’s chairman has said. Established during a meeting of priests in Knock, Co. Mayo in late October, the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is based on successful bodies already working for the wellbeing of priests in Australia, the United…

New film planned based on heroic work of Pope Francis in saving hundreds of people from the Argentinian dictatorship

Australia – The Catholic Church and associated charities in the country have joined a major call to the government on behalf of asylum seekers. Taking issue with the authorities’ use of the term ‘illegal maritime arrivals’, a raft of social justice groups, joined by the Archdiocese of Sydney, have co-signed an open letter in which…

‘There is still so much needed’

Pope John Paul II Awards in Mallow.

Indonesia -The Indonesian Ulema Council has again demanded that Catholic schools in the country teach Islam. A regional leader of the council, in Klanten, has issued the call for all schools, regardless of faith, to include Islam on its curriculum, as Muslim children are present in all schools. This is true also of Catholic schools…