Pope Francis will conclude the Catholic Church’s month-long rosary marathon with special prayers to Mary, Undoer of Knots, one of his favorite titles for the mother of Jesus. Bishop Bertram Johannes Meier of Augsburg, Germany, will bring an icon of Mary Undoer of Knots to the prayer service on May 31 in the Vatican Gardens,…
The theft of the gold rosary that Mary, Queen of Scots took to her execution is a “very tragic loss” for Catholic history, a curator has said. Jan Graffius, the curator of the Stonyhurst Collections, made the comment after police reported that thieves broke into Arundel Castle in West Sussex, southern England, on May 21, stealing…
On the 20th of April this year, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) launched our Freedom of Religion in the World Report. This biannual report looks at the state of religious freedom in all 196 countries in the world during the 2018-2020 period. The situation for religious freedom across the world is dire, with…
Bishops in the Republic have been urged to trust priests in parishes with decisions around holding First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies. It comes after the Department of the Taoiseach sent a circular to the Church hierarchy advising they postpone the ceremonies of First Holy Communion and Confirmation for May and June, to be resumed…
EXCLUSIVE The incoming DUP leader Edwin Poots has refused to say whether or not he would be willing to attend Mass if invited. A spokesman for Mr Poots told The Irish Catholic that the party has worked with the Catholic Church on a number of issues. However, when asked whether or not Mr Poots would…
NET Ministries Ireland has continued to place God in the hearts of young people around the island, with a large number of missionaries finding their vocations to religious life and marriage in recent years. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Executive Director Tony Foy said that over the past 18 months, six young men have entered…
The Sacrament of Baptism is continuing in every diocese in the Republic except for the Archdiocese of Dublin, The Irish Catholic has found. Baptisms are continuing on a smaller scale in every diocese around the Republic, and in the North, while they remain prohibited alongside First Communion and Confirmation in Dublin archdiocese. However, a baptism…
The church – the first dedicated to “St Patriky, the Enlightener of Ireland” by an Eastern Orthodox Church – was blessed and officially opened on the grounds of an Irish-funded orphanage in Belarus. The Church of St Patrick at Vesnova, in southern Belarus, was funded by the Belarusian Orthodox Church, and was dedicated to the…
A law professor has said he would be “very disappointed” if the challenge against the now-lapsed restrictions on religious gatherings is dropped by the High Court. This comes after a High Court judge said he did not see a point in fixing a hearing date for businessman Declan Ganley’s action against the Covid-19 penal provisions…
A new report has revealed that Churches will be “vital” in helping to restore “individual and community wellbeing” and building resilience. The research, carried out by the University of York in England, saw over 5,500 people surveyed from across a range of backgrounds, and the results disclosed the impact closing churches had on social contact…
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones