Two bishops criticise opening of parish records
Two Catholic bishops have objected to a decision by the National Library to provide public access to microfilm copies of historic parish registers from their dioceses. The bishops' objections are ....

Omagh remembers dead 10 years after bombing
Last Friday (15th August), ten years after a massive bomb struck the small town of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, and killed 29 people, the town was called to remember the greatest tragedy of the ‘troubles’ in ....

Cardinal Newman’s remains to be removed for veneration
The remains of a Victorian cardinal tipped to become the first English saint for more than a generation are to be moved from a rural cemetery in Rednal, Worcestershire, to a special resting place ....

Religious institutes offer wide range of night classes
As the summer comes to a close and the nights draw in, many turn their minds to night classes. The choice gets bigger and better every year. The Milltown Institute is one of many ....

Annual pilgrimage season begins at Our Lady’s Island
Last Friday (15 August) saw the opening of the pilgrimage season at Our Lady’s Island in south Co. Wexford.  Thousands of people attended the open-air Mass, celebrated by Bishop Denis Brennan ....

No Government directive on hijab, says Minister
The Government will not issue a directive to schools on the wearing of the Islamic hijab headscarf in schools, according to Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan. Mr Lenihan said that the ....

World Youth Day in Sydney still making news
About 20 Catholic pilgrims who attended World Day Youth services in Australia with Pope Benedict XVI last month have claimed asylum, with more applications expected. The majority of applicants ....

Knock novena under way
The annual Knock novena got under way this week and more than 150,000 pilgrims are expected to attend at the shrine over the next week. Parish priest Monsignor Joseph Quinn said that, going on ....

US Presidential election and abortion
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his supporters are working to win over voters who want to ban or reduce abortions with a call for measures to help women keep their babies. The ....

Nuala O'Loan asks bishops to make island-wide reforms
Ireland's Catholic bishops need to arrive at agreement on an island-wide basis on the issues facing the future of the Catholic Church here, former Northern Ireland ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has ....

Alternative World Youth Day
World Youth Day (WYD) disappointment was turned to joy for Irish pilgrims who were sent to Rome this week by their diocese. The group of 36 from Kildare did not make it to Sydney when a ....

Catholic education aims stated at Avondale conference
“The Catholic Church is committed to denominational education and intends to remain a provider for as long as parents choose Catholic schools." The Parnell Summer School in Avondale, Co Wicklow ....

Children's referendum should be limited in scope: Iona head
The Iona Institute has said that a referendum on children's rights should be “very limited in scope”. The comments came as two children's rights groups, Barnardos and the Irish Society for the ....

Irish Aid is 'of psychological as well as practical benefit' to missionary workers: Holy Rosary Sister
A Galway nun who works with poor people in Brazil has said funding from rich countries is of psychological as well as practical benefit to missionary workers.   Sr Eleanor Hayes, who ....

100 million face extreme poverty in Africa: charity boss.
The head of a new Anglo-Irish development agency has warned that as many as 100 million people in the African continent are at risk of extreme poverty.  Speaking at the launch of Self Help ....

New drive to bring single parent families out of poverty
Parents in receipt of the Lone Parent Allowance will be assigned welfare advisers within months of the birth of their children to help direct them towards training, education and work ....

Decline in religion linked to fall in marriage rate: study
A dramatic decline in marriage, particularly among young adults, has led to a decline in church attendance over the last three decades, according to a study by Robert Wuthnow, a sociology professor ....

Honorary doctorate for champion of Boston’s immigrants.
An Irish nun who has championed the rights of immigrants in the United States has been awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Sr Lena Deevy received ....

EU fishing policies are ‘genocide’, says priest
Former Maynooth professor and parish priest Monsignor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta has accused European Union policymakers of causing the ‘genocide' of coastal communities. He said the EU bureaucrats ....

Youth 2000 heads for Clonmacnois
Clonmacnois is set to be invaded by a large number of young people this week as the ‘Youth 2000’ national summer festival takes place at the ancient monastic settlement on the banks of the ....

“May the international community help end hostilities in Georgia and Ossetia”: Pope
Last weekend, at the end of his vacation in Bressanone, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI appealed to all to stop the war in the Caucusus. After the Angelus he addressed his words to the approximately ....

British Labour MP attempts to remove religious freedom of conscience
The victory of a Christian marriage registrar who had asked to be allowed to excuse herself from performing homosexual civil partnership ceremonies, has infuriated secularist and homosexual ....

Darfur ‘lost boy’ seeks to raise Darfur awareness in Olympics
Seven years ago in 2001 a number of ‘lost boys’ arrived in US away from the horrors of Darfur. One of them was Lopez Lomong who is now a parishioner at St Leo’s Church in Tully. This week he has ....

Polish in US and at home on pilgrimage
Every year thousands of Catholics in Poland embark on an annual religious pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. This year Polish immigrants in the US carried out their own version ....

Anglican bishops critical of plan for church unity
After the recent Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has said the Anglican Communion can help solve its present conflicts by observing three moratoria upon the ....

Priests on hunger strike against bishop
Priests from the Indian city of Tiruchirapalli have gone on a hunger strike against their local bishop, Bishop Antony Devotta. Newindpress reported that sixteen Catholic priests staged a hunger ....

Women more concerned about juggling work, family: study
Women are increasingly concerned about the impact of working mothers on family life, according to a new survey by Cambridge University. The report compared results of social attitude polls from ....

Plaques honour Irish who spread Catholic faith in Australia
After eight years of planning, plaques were unveiled to Irish pioneers in Queensland, who as well as being among the early builders of the nation, also spread the Catholic faith in New South Wales ....

Polish student invents mobile phone prayer software
A Polish student has devised mobile phone software to help people say the Rosary while on the move. Arthur Polit’s ‘Mobile Rosary’ is a freeware Java application for mobile phones which aims to ....

News of vaccination programme receives mixed reception
Health Minister Mary Harney's introduction of a cervical cancer vaccination programme for young girls in Ireland has been given a mixed reception. A spokesperson for pro life group Mother and ....

"Lad's mags" linked to marital breakdown, says politician
So-called lads' mags encourage young men to look at women as sex objects, and society needs to hold their publishers to account for this, according to a leading Conservative ....

Zimbabwe power-sharing deal could avert humanitarian crisis
Progress has been reported in talks brokered by South Africa between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The country has been in a ....

Almost a million benefited from Dublin tsunami appeal
Close to one million people, most of them schoolchildren, have benefited from money raised in the Archdiocese of Dublin in the wake of the Tsunami disaster, it was announced yesterday. The ....

Trócaire warns about China HR violations at start of Olympics
As the Bejing Olympics gets underway today, the Catholic agency Trócaire has asked people to be mindful of China’s poor human rights record in places like Burma, Darfur and Tibet and has also ....

Despite economic downturn, social partnership still in place: CORI
While the national pay talks collapsed last Saturday, the Conference of Religious of Ireland, represented by Fr Seán Healy, SMA, Director of CORI Justice, has welcomed the  government’s recent ....

Pro-family, pro-life views must be voiced at UN: Iona
The Iona Institute has said that pro-family and pro-life groups should send their own reports to various UN committees after UN Human Rights Committees recommended that Ireland give the same rights ....

Peace agreement in DR Congo not respected: human rights coalition
Six months after the signing of a peace agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), horrendous violence continues to plague the eastern area of that African country, ....

Plaque recalls pioneering Christian Brother
A Christian Brother who was famous for raising standards in his order’s schools has been commemorated with a plaque in his native village, Kilnamona, County Clare. Brother Thomas Keane was ....

Concern as cemetery vandalism on the rise
Concern has been expressed on both sides of the border at mounting vandalism in cemeteries and the targeting of people attending funerals or visiting graves of loved ones. The Police Service ....

Jesus kept his word: Betancourt
Reflecting on her release from captivity former French-Colombian hostage, Ingrid Betancourt, says that Jesus kept his promise to her when she was released in June after she consecrated herself to ....