“I call upon all parties to fan the flame of dialogue and self-control – and to banish the shadow of enmity,” said Pope Francis.
“Love makes us patient,” says Pope. “So many times we lose patience, even me, and I apologise for yesterday’s bad example.”
Promotion of World Peace
Women’s bodies must be freed from consumerism. They must be respected and honoured, said Pope Francis in his homily on the first day of the year, which is dedicated to the figure of Mary, Mother of God.
Peace cannot and should not be taken for granted and is a precious value that requires cultivation and tending in every generation.
In their World Day of Peace homilies, the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin focus on racism, fear of the immigrant, ecological conversion, the Rosary and Brexit.
Company set up to run the WMF2018 and Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland owes €2.5m not €4.5m as quoted in media reports.
This path of reconciliation is a summons to discover in the depths of our heart the power of forgiveness and the capacity to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters, says Pope Francis.
“I can’t understand why people would choose to attack Greta Thunberg. She is passionate about what she believes; she is only a young girl and she is speaking prophetically to the world and what do we do – we attack her. We attack her message."
Dioceses can no longer “quote the pontifical secret to avoid either cooperating or sharing with the authorities” Archbishop Charles Scicluna warns.
Rector and parish administrator of St Joseph’s in Dundalk, Fr Noel Kehoe CSsR, described the new initiative as “an exciting new tool in our mission to preach plentiful redemption.”
“Express oneself with the three languages – the language of the mind, what I think; the language of the heart, what I feel; and the language of the hands, what I do!” says Pope Francis.
This weekend, the third Sunday of Advent, the faithful in Kildare & Leighlin are invited to take home from church a Christmas card with a greeting from Bishop Denis Nuty and a trolley coin keyring with the message ‘Share with the hungry’.
Pope Francis has chosen the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila as the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, reflecting the Pontiff's desire for a missionary church and a greater outreach to Asia.
Confession at Shannon shopping centre was an initiative introduced "in response to the call from Pope Francis to go to the marketplace, and that was what we did - bring the church out to the people” - Fr Arnold Rosney.
As the 25th UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) continues in Madrid, Fr Sean McDonagh has warned that climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing humans and all of the planet's species.
The future of the very young
"We encourage all Catholics to make time during the season of Advent to celebrate and receive the gift of God’s love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation” – Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Eighty percent of all acts of religious persecution around the world today are being committed against Christians – Archbishop Eamon Martin.
The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Catholic new year and the time of spiritual preparation for the Lord’s coming at Christmas. It is a time of waiting, conversion and hope – Archbishop Eamon Martin.
“Today, the urgency of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and lay ministry and the question of self-care for priests are ones that must be addressed in a meaningful way" - Bishop Larry Duffy.
“I encourage you to seek, in every poor person whom you encounter, his or her true needs, not to stop at their most obvious material needs, but to discover their inner goodness,” Pope Francis told the faithful.
Sr Pat Murray is a Loreto nun from Dublin and is currently Secretary of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), a Rome-based worldwide organization of Superiors General of Institutes of Catholic Women Religious.
"Maynooth’s potential for encounter and exchange is unique: three partner institutions, side by side on this historic campus, perfectly situated in one of most attractive towns in this country - the possibilities for study, research, community building and dialogue are endless."
Campaign will encourage Catholic parish communities to consider those children who are vulnerable and marginalised, and specifically the critical need for children in care to find adoptive and foster parents.
Dialogue and reconciliation in the Middle East
The recommendation to lift the restriction on ordaining married men limits it to those who are already permanent deacons and to the Church in the Amazon.
“Let us resolve to raise awareness, to keep our eyes open and to cooperate at all levels of society for an end to this evil in our midst,” says Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh.
Document requires a two-thirds majority to pass. It unclear if it will be voted on paragraph by paragraph or as a whole.
We have been reflecting and discerning...about the future of first-class provision of philosophical, theological and pastoral formation for the whole Irish Church - Archbishop Eamon Martin
