Month: August 2024

EU watchdog reports huge rise in Christian persecution

A European watchdog has warned of serious anti-Christian violence in Europe and called on governments to protect converts from Islam in particular. The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) has reported an increase in anti-Christian hate crimes by 44% on the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Violence Based…

Concern Worldwide aids victims of Bangladesh floods

Concern Worldwide is responding to deadly floods in Bangladesh in which at least 18 people have been killed and millions of others stranded. The Irish organisation is providing food, oral rehydration solution, water purification tablets, sanitary pads, candles and matches to approximately 35,000 people in Nohakhali district, one of the worst affected districts. “These floods…

A day of wonder ‘to hope and act with creation’

Bishop Martin Hayes Each year, from September 1 to October 4, starting with World Day of Prayer for Creation the first day of September, the ecumenical family celebrates the ‘Season of Creation’. This is an annual opportunity to pause and reflect on how we care for the gift of creation. It is a special Church season…

Catholic archbishop supports Ukrainian ban on Russian Orthodox Church activities

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, this week defended a new Ukrainian law that aims to limit the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country because of its support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion and regime. Shevchuk, who has spoken out frequently in Ukraine’s defence since the start of the war, said Russia…

An activist guide to a better way of living

We Are Saved Only Together. Living in the Revolutionary Vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement by Colin Miller, foreword by Seth Haines (Ave Maria Press, €19.50 / £16.30 / US $ 17.95) The parable of the Good Samaritan is surely the best known of Jesus’ parables. It is among the most easily understood:…

Centuries of change in the alleys of Galway

Reforming Galway: Civic society, religious change and St Nicholas collegiate church, 1550-1750 by Raymond Gillespie (Four Courts Press, €50.00 / £45.00) Raymond Gillespie, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maynooth, died in March of this year, while this book was in the very final stages of production. Reforming Galway is thus the last work of a…