The Catholic Church in Nigeria is experiencing remarkable growth, positioning itself as a potential source of revitalisation for Catholicism in the West. Nigeria’s Catholic population is estimated to be 25 million, making up 10-15% of the country’s 220 million people. The country’s population is expected to soar to 350-400 million in the next 20 years. Read more
Two newly ordained priests – one a former punk rock guitarist and the other a former policeman – spoke at their ordination of serving and accompanying others. The pair were ordained at the Cathedral of Prato, Italy earlier this month. Service and accompaniment The newly ordained Father Giulio Vanucci said while he had enjoyed being Read more
In Columbus, Ohio, the diligent efforts of the local bishop have led to a significant rise in priestly vocations in recent years. Bishop Earl K Fernandes is spearheading efforts to cultivate a thriving culture of vocations within his diocese. Since his ordination as bishop in 2022, Bishop Fernandes has witnessed a remarkable turnaround. In the Read more
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin says it feels like the Lord has abandoned Ireland’s Catholic Church. This “confronts us with something new, but something we do not clearly understand. “There are hardly any priests or practising Catholics. “We feel perplexed, even that the Lord has abandoned us. We feel that we have lost our way” Read more
An ongoing rural ministry priest shortage in the Spanish region of Castile has bishops, vicars and deans looking for new ways to serve. The problem is urgent, as what worked in the past when there were plenty of priests doesn’t work today. “We cannot expect things to change if we always do the same thing” Read more
At the week-long National Assembly of Diocesan Catholic Priests in Rotorua, Brisbane’s Archbishop Mark Coleridge dropped a rock in the pond. Coleridge told the Catholic priests that changes were happening, that there would be more of them and that it was important to be prepared. Coleridge suggested that ministry as a Catholic priest was not Read more
The boy who bypassed papal security in 2013 to embrace Pope Francis is now a seminarian. It was at Rio de Janeiro’s World Youth Day (WYD) that nine-year old Nathan de Brito came to fame. He’s the boy who ran to hug the pope and said he wanted to be a priest. “At that moment Read more
Angelo and Paolo were in a relationship for almost ten years, starting when he was 16 and she was 15. They were planning to be married; however, before their wedding, Maria decided that God was intervening and asked her to become a nun. So she left him and joined the Monastery of Carmelo at Ponti Read more
The Catholic Church in Ireland has launched a Year for Vocations as it battles a huge drop in the number of men going to seminaries. Where once every large family in the country expected one son to join the priesthood, the scandals that have rocked the Church in the last two decades have meant the Read more
The Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Sydney has broken a record, with 17 men joining this year’s intake, the largest number in the history of the Homebush seminary. The last time so many men entered a seminary in Sydney was 40 years ago when 17 entered Good Shepherd’s predecessor seminary, St Patrick’s College at Read more