A child cries while being treated at a cholera treatment centre on October 9 after Hurricane Matthew swept through Jeremie, Haiti. Photo: CNS

Bishop Smith pays tribute to Irish Columbans Bishop Michael Smith of Meath has hailed the courageous witness of the Society of St Columban on the centenary of its founding.  Following a special Mass on October 10 at the Columbans’ headquarters at Dalgan Park, Co. Meath, Bishop Smith welcomed moves by the Catholic Church in Korea to promote the beatifications of seven…

Pope Francis will conclude the Year of Mercy by creating 17 new cardinals, including three from the US: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life; and Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis. Announcing the names of the new cardinals on October…

A Galway priest presented Pope Francis with a crucifix made from Connemara marble when he met the Pontiff in the Azerbaijan capital Baku, The Irish Catholic has learned. Fr Raymond Flaherty of Headford parish was on pilgrimage with 11 others from the Archdiocese of Tuam to the reputed site of the martyrdom of St Bartholomew…

While having dinner recently with my former producer, Bernie Lucht, the Montreal Jewish intellectual and onetime head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s flagship intellectual affairs programme, Ideas, he looked across the table at me and asked plaintively why the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops was being so callous with the dying. Bernie had confused the…

A spectacular concert to be held in Knock Basilica this weekend is inspired in large part by Laudato Si’ and is a “human-divine love story” that aims to celebrate the links between God, humanity, and the planet, according to composer Willie Hughes. ‘The Story of Love’, to be performed in the basilica on the evenings…

The Church sees no division in a disputed land, writes Paul Keenan

The Constitution should be amended to soften the right to private property to help local authorities tackle Ireland’s housing shortage, a prominent priest-sociologist has said. Speaking at the AGM for the County Kildare Centres for the Unemployed, Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ acknowledged Ireland’s success in emerging from recession, but described the lack of housing…

A Catholic priest in Belfast was subjected to “vile” abuse by nationalist residents of the Ardoyne after he oversaw the end of the Twaddell Avenue protest camp on October 1. In his last act as a priest of the Ardoyne, Fr Gary Donegan was on hand to witness the conclusion of the protest that had…

Abortion on demand would be the inevitable effect of repealing the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, a leading academic has said. The most obvious legal interpretation of any vote to remove article 40.3.3 from Bunreacht na hÉireann would be that the people had chosen to abolish constitutional protections for the unborn, according to Prof. Gerry…