Staff Reporter Churches in the North were privately offered £100,000 a year by a British government minister if they would work more closely together in the interests of community relations, a declassified file has revealed. A memo from Tony McCusker in the Central Community Relations Unit (CCRU) in January 1991 set out details of a…
We often like to flatter ourselves that if we lived under conditions of persecution for our faith we would have the resilience and courage to risk persecution in order to stand by what we believe. I wonder if this is true though? In much of the world, Christians are savagely persecuted for their faith, and…
Young Jewish people don’t want to draw attention to their creed due to anti-Israel sentiment in Ireland, according to a Jewish representative body. Irish Jewish people are conscious of being overt about their Judaism as they “do not want to attract the generally obsessive nature of anti-Israel demonisation which goes on in Ireland”, according to…
There are three words that recur when you talk to Seamus McDonald, KSG, retired teacher, first-ever Irish secretary general of Unum Omnes, the International Council of Catholic Men, stalwart of the Knights of Saint Columbanus for more than 30 years and former pioneering GAA official in Co. Tyrone. They are ‘service’, ‘community’ and ‘parish’. They…
Sophie Overall “I do not believe the term, ‘late vocation’ exists,” Bro. Malachy Thompson says when he looks back on how he came to join the Cistercian monks. “God calls people to the religious life when they are ready to truly experience it.” Bro. Malachy is currently the Director of Vocations at Mount St Joseph…
A day after appealing for an end to the violent persecution of the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Vatican announced Pope Francis will visit the country in late November. After the visit on November 27-30 to the cities of Yangon and Naypyitaw in Myanmar, the Pope will travel on to Dhaka, Bangladesh,…
Catholic dioceses and charities are quickly organising to help in the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall with heavy rains and winds of 130 miles per hour into the Rockport, Texas. The hurricane made landfall late on Friday, August 25. The National Weather Service said in a tweet two days later that…
The Indonesian government has met with Catholic bishops to discuss how a character-building programme could tackle extremism. The programme is already in place in Catholic schools, but Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy is looking into applying the same model to state-run schools. It is expected these schools will act as model schools for other institutions, providing…
Reacting to a recent video in which the Vatican and the Pope were threatened by ISIS, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it represented “senseless hatred”. The Vatican obviously is concerned about terrorist threats and will continue to remain vigilant according to the Vatican Secretary of State. Cardinal Parolin said he had seen the most recent video…
A priest in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Paraiba was found dead in his rectory Thursday morning, with signs of having been stabbed, according to police. The body of Fr Pedro Gomes Bezerra (49) was discovered on August 24 in Borborema. His body was found wrapped in sheets in his residence, which was in shambles.…
David Quinn
Chai Brady
Martin O'Brien