Faith and Life Convention The third annual Down & Connor Faith and Life Convention will be held at Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock, Belfast on September 24. This year’s keynote speaker will be former Westminster MP Sarah Teather. She is the current director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Britain.  At age 29…

Fr Jacques Mourad, the Jesuit priest who escaped the clutches of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) after five months in captivity in 2015 has said the faith of Christians in Syria remains strong despite the conflict there. Now ministering in Sulaymaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Fr Mourad was formerly prior of the Monastery of Mar Elian in…

The decision to involve the Vatican’s child protection commission in training new bishops is very welcome, child abuse survivor Marie Collins has said. Mrs Collins, in Rome for a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, told The Irish Catholic that the commission has been “invited to take part in training…

In a sign of rising tensions for the Christian community in Indonesia, Muslim extremists have interrupted a Mass in Central Java, little over a week after a priest was attacked by an axe-wielding assailant at another celebration. During the celebration in the parish of St Peter Purwosari, near Surakarta, two men in the congregation of…

Pixie Belle Reilly (4) starting her first day in Junior Infants in Gardiner Street Convent School in Dublin this week takes a peek at her classmates. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

It has been reported that the case of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman imprisoned for blasphemy in Pakistan, will be heard again by the Supreme Court in October. According to Vatican Insider. Joseph Nadeem, who has been providing legal assistance to the woman, confirmed that a request has been made to have the case heard…

Columbine principal to speak in Dublin Frank DeAngelis, the principal of Columbine High School whose faith helped him to recover from the trauma of the 1999 shooting which claimed 15 lives will be the guest speaker at the Mansion House this September 14 to discuss the lessons learned from the tragedy in terms of young people and mental health.  Hosted…

The place of Christianity in the Middle East has been defended by a Jordanian prince and a Jewish expert in interfaith dialogue. In an effort to counter the narrative of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) that Christianity is a Western import to the Muslim world, Prince Hassan of Jordan, who is founder and president of the…

The iconic Benedictine Abbey at Kylemore last week became a new Education Centre in partnership with a top US Catholic University, Notre Dame. Kylemore Abbey was a secondary boarding school until August 2010. Around 40 students have already attended the Notre Dame-sponsored courses this summer, including an environmental law conference, a two-week retreat for the…

Vatican confirms ongoing negotiations with China Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has confirmed that the Holy See is involved in diplomatic talks with authorities in China.  In the wake of concerns expressed in recent weeks by Church and lay figures in the East as to the status of Catholics in the so-called underground Church should Rome achieve an agreement…