Courtney McGrailThe Chinese province of Zhejiang, which garnered international attention for its drive against Christian crosses and buildings, has now moved to ban any outward signs of faith in medical facilities. Under new regulations it is forbidden to pray or preach in any hospital, while patients are barred from receiving priests at their bedsides. The main…
Category: News
Film festival showcases life and legacy of Mother Teresa
A four-day film festival dedicated to the life and works of Blessed Mother Teresa is set to take place in India in the days running up to her canonisation in Rome on September 4. Already an annual event that began after the announcement of her beatification in 2003 with a small number of documentary films…
Caritas workers released after Congo kidnap
Paul Keenan
Three workers with the Catholic aid agency Caritas were abducted from their convoy in the Democratic Republic of Congo and held for 24 hours by militiamen in the troubled North Kivu region, it has been reported. Initial reports detailed a gun attack on the convoy of vehicles in which a German photojournalist covering the work…
Vatican Roundup
Pope meets French President in wake of Hamel killing Pope Francis has followed up on a private phone call he received from French President Francois Hollande in the wake of the brutal murder of Fr Jacques Hamel in Normandy to host the French leader at the Vatican. Touched by Mr Hollande’s call to express condolences in the wake of the killing, Pope Francis…
Irish campaigners urged to step up pro-life fight amid funding row
Greg DalySenator Rónán Mullen has called on Irish people at home and abroad to support Irish pro-life organisations as pressure builds to overturn the constitutional protections for the unborn. The NUI senator’s comments came as it was revealed that the billionaire financier George Soros’ New York-based Open Society Foundations is a major contributor to the Abortion…
Flag of all nations
The Olympic flag – bearing one colour from every national flag in the world – is lowered during the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on August. 21. It will next be raised in Tokyo for the 2020 Games. Photo: CNS
Flowers for the fairest
Local girls on Our Lady’s Island, Wexford, carrying baskets of fl ower petals to scatter before the Blessed Sacrament, carried by parish priest Fr Jim Cogley in the Assumption procession launching the island’s annual pilgrimage season. Photo: Terry McNamee.
West Cork parishioners delight in Olympic success
The O’Donovan brothers’ rowing exploits in the Olympics have “really helped to put Skibbereen on the map”, according to the chair of Skibbereen’s parish pastoral council. “It’s brilliant,” Jacinta Crowley told The Irish Catholic, continuing, “the town is all done up beautiful, and the volunteers are in the process of painting the rowing club for…
News in Brief
Glenstal abbot blessing likely in November The new abbot of Glenstal Abbey is likely to be formally installed in early November, The Irish Catholic understands. Ennis-born Fr Brendan Coffey was elected the sixth abbot of the Co. Limerick monastery on Saturday, August 13, succeeding Mark Patrick Hederman. The election was presided over by Abbot Ansgar Schmidt, Abbot President of the…
Senator rejects calls for ‘closed doors’ Citizens’ Assembly
Senator Rónán Mullen has rejected calls for the forthcoming citizens’ assembly on the abortion to be held behind closed doors. Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week amid the latest row over the assembly – whether or not to reveal the identities of its members – Senator Mullen said that, while he had always objected…