Catholic priest abducted after Sunday Mass in Nigeria A Catholic priest of the Diocese of Minna in Nigeria was among 45 people kidnapped after Mass March 27. The Nigeria Catholic Network reported that on the morning of March 27, assailants abducted villagers along with Fr Leo Raphael Ozigi, a priest of St Mary’s Catholic Church in the…
Proposal to expand nature reserves to 30% globally Expanding nature reserves to cover at least 30% of the planet by 2030 is the flagship proposal of high-stakes talks to rescue Earth’s animals and plants from human destruction. But experts agree that a new target is the easy part and will be ineffective without funding and…
Gunther Simmermacher In 1633, at the height of the Reformation, the Black Death was sweeping through Europe, including the southern German region of Bavaria. The terrified people of one small village decided to do something to protect themselves from this pandemic: The villagers vowed that every 10 years they would perform a “Passionsspiel” – a…
Staff reporter Pre-packaging claims as “rights” can be used to shut down debate and deny the chance to “discern” the validity of the claims, Senator Rónán Mullen has said. This comes after senators took issue with Senator Mullen’s reluctance to use the term “transgender rights” during an Order of Business debate. Senator Mullen took to…
More than 4 million people have fled Ukraine in the past five weeks, and half of them are children, said two UN agencies. “Children make up half of all refugees from the war in Ukraine,” UNICEF said March 30 in a media release that included data from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. UNICEF estimated that…
Limerick: Snapshots of the Treaty City and County 1840–1960 by Tom Donovan and Vincent Carmody, forward by JP McManus, preface by Matthew Potter (Poundlane Publications, €35.00/£30.00) Limerick is a much-storied city which traces its origin back to its establishment by the Vikings in 821. The authors take just a snapshot of that history, zooming in on…
The verdict in the closely watched trial of a Finnish Christian MP was announced March 30. A court in Helsinki dismissed all charges against Päivi Räsänen, a physician and mother of five, and Juhana Pohjola, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, after a free speech trial that drew international attention. The court said in…
A parent’s perspective I was reading a Facebook post recently about a woman who wanted to scale back on her working hours due to chronic illness. She was hoping for some sort of flexibility and understanding of her position having been an exemplary employee in the past. Her boss was not too eager to facilitate…
The Augustinian order have made the “painful” decision to withdraw friars from Rivermount Parish in Finglas and Meath Street parish in the Liberties. The decision came following the order’s chapter last week, as it seeks to downsize due to a decline in the number of friars. Prior provincial Fr Tony Egan OSA told this paper…
The iconic Collegiate Chapel of St Finbarr – better known as the Honan Chapel at University College Cork – reopened in March, after a €1.2 million refurbishment. Bishop of Cork and Ross Fintan Gavin celebrated Mass to mark a new chapter in the chapel’s 106-year-old story. The occasion was also marked with a dinner in…
Maria Byrne
Ruadhán Jones