Differences between Gardai and HSE harming abuse investigation says report
A turf war between the HSE and the Gardaí is compromising the proper investigation of child sex abuse, according a new report by the Garda Inspectorate. The report, Responding to Child Sexual ....

Prof Michael Hayes takes over at Mary Immaculate College
One the country's top theologians has promised to put the country's largest catholic university at the heart of the community. In his inaugural address, the new President of Mary Immaculate ....

Archbishop critical of cut-backs targeting sick and elderly
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has appealed to parishes and communities to respond to the care needs of the sick and elderly who have been targeted by Government cutbacks in the social ....

New Knock PP appointed
Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam has named Fr Richard Gibbons as the new parish priest of Knock, following the recent sudden death of Monsignor Joseph Quinn.  Fr Gibbons, who is 43, has been ....

Welsh Church leaders experss concern over organ donation
The donation of human organs after death is a gift and should not be changed to presumed consent. This is according to the leaders of the Catholic Church in Wales, the Church in Wales and the ....

Creighton Says Vatican Embassy May Open in Two Years
The Irish embassy in the Vatican may re-open “within the next two years” a Government minister has said. In what is seen as a softening of the Governments line of closing the embassy, Junior ....

Priests murdered in Guatemala and Mexico
Two priests were recently murdered within a day of each other in Guatemala and Mexico. In Guatemala, on Friday January 27, Fr David Donis Barrera was brutally murdered as he travelled from ....

Couple 78 years married bear witness to lifelong marriage
A couple married 78 years have won Worldwide Marriage Encounter’s Longest Married Couple Award for 2012. Wibur & Theresa Faiss of Las Vegas, Nevada, were married on April 14 1933.  They met ....

Planning underway for National Assembly of Irish Church
The forthcoming Assembly of the Irish Church will be open to everyone who regard themselves as a member of the Church, according to a spokesperson for the Association of Catholic Priests ....

Kildare and Leighlin's Eucharistic Congress
The Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin has announced it is hosting a Diocesan Eucharistic Congress in the lead up to the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.   The Diocesan ....

US Bishops do battle with administration over contraception mandate
Over 100 Catholic bishops of the United States are doing battle against a health department rule that will require Catholic employers to offer their employees health insurance plans that cover ....

Church calls for modest Communion celebrations
The Church has rowed into the debate over the exorbitant costs families with children preparing for the sacraments face, by warning that the emphasis should not be on expensive externals but rather ....

Pioneer movement saved after donations
The work done by the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) looks set to continue in Ireland after the organisation revealed this week that donations from members would ensure that its work ....

Card carrying Catholics - a new reality in England
One million wallet-sized cards stating the carrier is a Catholic are being distributed in twenty-four Catholic dioceses in the UK.  Enabling Catholics to become card carrying is the ....

Bishop Boyce to be investigated for incitement to hatred
Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe (pictured) has been accused of incitement to hatred and is being investigated by the Director of Public Prosecutions after he said the Church was being "attacked from ....

Reliquary of Saint Brigid stolen from Killester church
As the country prepared to celebrate Saint Brigid's Day, a reliquary that usually contains a relic of Saint Brigid, was stolen from a Dublin City church. The shrine was stolen from Saint Brigid's ....

Motion proposes "screening" Catholic civil servants
A motion to be debated at Labour's national conference in April calling for the screening of senior civil servants dealing with the Catholic Church is, "deeply undemocratic," The Iona Institute has ....

Féile Bríde celebrates light and Spring
Féile Bríde 2012 has as its theme, Ancient Wisdom for new Times.  The Féile Bríde - Brigid's Festival is a week- long series of events around St. Brigid’s Day, the first day of ....

"Equality" threatening religious freedom, says philosopher
Religious freedom is being trumped by an over-emphasis on equality in British courts, according to a leading philosopher. Professor Roger Trigg (pictured) of Kellogg College, Oxford, said that ....

Church to fight same-sex marriage in England
The Catholic Church in England and Wales and the Church of England are planning a campaign of opposition to the British Government's plans to introduce same-sex marriage. In a meeting this week, ....

SVP puts its magazine on sale for the first time
For the first time ever, the Society of St Vincent de Paul’s quarterly magazine has gone on sale nationwide in Eason’s and other outlets.  The charity felt there was the need for a national ....

Large increase in number living in poverty - SJI
A new study by Social Justice Ireland (SJI) shows that the level of poverty in Ireland has increased by almost 60,000 while figures for unemployment are not falling. The 54-page study, entitled ....

Glenstal Abbey to take day pupils
The secondary school at the Benedictine-run Glenstal Abbey is to take day pupils for the first time since it opened eighty years ago. The school’s principal, Brother Martin Browne (pictured), ....

Vatican appeal to consign leprosy to the past
The President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care has expressed the hope that leprosy will soon be consigned to the past. In the Holy See’s message for World Leprosy Day ....

"Sooner or later someone will have to talk to the Boko Haram" - Archbishop of Abuja
Up to 35,000 people have fled their homes in northern Nigeria after attacks from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.  They include a large number of Catholics who say churches have been ....

Religion the basis of most complaints to RTÉ
Religion is the source of most complaints to RTÉ, according to documents published under Freedom of Information requests. According to the freedom of information request sent by the Irish Examiner ....

Melifont Abbey celebrates ordination of Bro Joseph Ryan
The Cistercian Community in Mellifont in County Louth will welcome another man to the priesthood this weekend. Cardinal Seán Brady will ordain Br Joe Ryan to the priesthood at Mellifont Abbey at ....

Politician and congregation founder beatified in Austria
A married woman and politician, who founded a Catholic religious congregation is being beatified in Austria today. The extraordinary woman, who began life as a Jew, converted to Catholicism, had ....

World Mission Day is a call to all to evangelise, says the Pope
"Faith is a gift that was given to us to be shared.  It is the most important gift of our lives and we cannot keep it to ourselves," states the Pope in his message for World Mission Day.  ....

St Patrick’s Cathedral to stream Sunday services
This weekend, St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin will commence live streaming of its Sunday services, in a new departure aimed at making provision for online participation in liturgies by those ....

Council of Europe says 'Euthanasia must always be prohibited'
The adoption of a resolution by an important European political body banning euthanasia has been welcomed by pro-life organisations. On Wednesday (January 25) the Parliamentary Assembly of the ....

New Cardinal has Drogheda connection
While Ireland may not be getting a new member of the College of Cardinals next February, a Canadian Archbishop who is due to be appointed to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI next month has ....

Jesus’ favourite song was not Cole Porter’s 'anything goes' - Bishop McKeown
People who want their children to have a world view that is open to the transcendent should not be portrayed as either social luddites or divisive bigots, the auxiliary bishop of Down and Connor ....

Cardinal pledges to uphold constitutional rights to Catholic education
The Catholic Primate of All Ireland has said the Church is committed to upholding the constitutional rights of parents who wish to provide their children with a Catholic education. Speaking at the ....

Major celebrations planned for return of True Cross relic to Holycross
The village of Holycross in County Tipperary looks set for major celebrations next month when the relic of the True Cross on which Jesus died returns to the Abbey. Parish priest of Holycross, Fr ....

Bosnian Catholics face increasing Islamic fundamentalism
In Bosnia-Herzegovina,nuns now only leave the convent in pairs out of fear of abuse.  Nuns wearing habits are subjected to verbal abuse in public more and more frequently.  Speaking to ....

French in bid to lower divorce rate
The French Government is to introduce longer civil ceremonies and a, “marriage preparation kit” that will remind soon-to-be husbands and wives what they are signing up for, in a bid to reduce the ....

Children "uncertain" about gender to be given puberty-delaying injections
Six children in Britain are to be given hormone injections to delay the onset of puberty because they and their parents believe they suffer from gender-identity-disorder. The monthly injections ....

Bishop urges recognition of journalists' contribution
Society must recognise the, “valuable work that journalists undertake and their contribution to the common good,” Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns said in a statement issued to mark the Feast of St ....

First Native American saint
Native Americans throughout North America and Canada are hugely excited about having a saint come from within their own community. Responding to the recent announcement that Blessed Kateri ....