Catholic charismatic renewal is “a current of grace of the Spirit” Pope Francis told over 50,000 people this week. Those present at the 50th anniversary of Catholic charismatic renewal celebrations came from 122 countries, sharing a common devotion to the Holy Spirit. Not all were Catholic. Francis told them although there are many forms of Read more
Rampaging ISIS terrorists in the southern Philippine city of Marawi have desecrated a cathedral and destroyed its holy images. A video posted by the gunmen showed armed men throwing down and stomping on the images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph and tearing up posters of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI. ISIS Read more
A hundred Muslims at prayer in Galway’s Masjid Maryam mosque were traumatised when it was attacked on Monday evening. Rocks hurled through the windows terrified the worshippers, who included women and children. Imam Ahmad Noonan said “The rocks came smashing through the windows and could have seriously injured one of my members. “We have had Read more
Religious groups are reacting strongly to President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement. The United States is now one of three nations – the others are Syria and Nicaragua – not committed to the voluntary restrictions outlined in the agreement. Many worry about the effect Trump’s Read more
Not believing in the devil isn’t a good idea, warns Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput. There is a medieval Christian saying, “no devil, no Redeemer,” he says. “The modern world makes it hard to believe in the devil. But it treats Jesus Christ the same way. And that’s the point.” Read more
A set of 1,600-year-old frescoes in Rome’s catacombs have been exposed using modern technology. Experts used the latest laser technology to uncover the centuries of grime smudging multi-coloured frescoes that adorn the ceilings of two crypts built for Roman grain merchants. Read more
Over 300,000 Russians have been standing in huge lines for up to 10 hours to visit a gilded ark thought to carry bone fragment relics of St Nicholas. “The thing is, people don’t have much to hope for … they have nothing else to rely on, other than to go and pray,” says Xenia Loutchenko, Read more
A woman with Down Syndrome and autism received a five minute standing ovation after her passionate right to life speech to the Human Rights Committee at the United Nations (U.N). Charlotte (Charlie) Helene Fien, who is 21, wrote her speech after watching a television documentary called ‘A world without Down Syndrome’. The documentary discussed a Read more
An apology from the Catholic Church to indigenous Canadians is important, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Pope Francis in an audience this week. There is much to apologise to Canada’s indigenous community for, Trudeau indicated. He told Francis about a third (150,000) of indigenous Canadians were forcibly removed from their families and put into residential Read more
South Sudan will not be on Pope Francis’s visiting list this year. The Vatican confirmed that although it has been looking into the possibility of Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, visiting South Sudan, it has decided it’s too dangerous to visit the country at present. The Church of England has not yet Read more