Month: November 2019

Vatican announces new body of young Catholic leaders

The Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life has announced it is setting up a specialised team of young Catholic leaders as advisers. The new international advisory body was established following a proposal in the final document of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment. The Vatican made the announcement…

Nicaraguan churchgoers attacked by ‘hyena’ Sandinista mob

Pro-government mobs have besieged another Nicaraguan parish, further inflaming tensions between the Catholic Church and President Daniel Ortega, whose Sandinista regime is targeting dissidents and attempting to stamp out dissent. Lat week, Ortega supporters tried to enter St John the Baptist Parish in Masaya, south of Managua, the capital, forcing churchgoers to barricade the doors…

Penal church ruins found at Apollo 
House site

The ruins of a large Catholic church which operated during Penal times 300 years ago has been discovered in central Dublin this week. It was found at the site of Apollo house, an office block on Tara Street which homelessness campaigners occupied over Christmas three years ago. The developer of the site, Marlet, was mandated…

How do you become Pope?

Questions of Faith The Pope doesn’t have an easy job; while some think of him as a mysterious man who lives in the Vatican, Catholics know him as the head of the Church and a shepherd to his entire flock. The Catechism describes his role as such: “For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his…

Vatican charity ‘appalled’ over former director abuse allegations

Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based confederation of 165 national Catholic charities, has expressed sadness and outrage over incidents of child abuse by a Belgian Salesian priest who had been the national director of Caritas in the Central African Republic. Caritas Internationalis in Rome released a written statement the same day CNN published an investigative report outlining…

Homeless to be focus of Pro-Cathedral concert

The Pro-Cathedral in Dublin are gearing up for a major concert fundraiser to help alleviate homelessness in the country. Kicking off on December 17, musicians such as Red Hurley, Linda Martin, Cliona Hagan, Anna Kearney and boys and girls of the cathedral choirs will be performing, with further guests to be announced. Organiser Orla Kearney,…

Indian Church launches new widow matchmaking website

The Church in Kerala is hoping to help widows in India – who often suffer from social stigmas – through its new matchmaking website. The Family Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council has launched prolifemarry.com. The website will help match individuals hoping to marry. One of its major goals is to help widowed women,…

Bolivian church houses dead after protests

A church located on the outskirts of Bolivia’s capital city became an improvised morgue following another deadly day of protests in the South American country. Fr Gechi Revelin of St Francis Parish in El Alto said protesters started to bring corpses into his small church last week following intense clashes between Bolivia’s military and supporters…