The first Irish saint to be beatified on 13 May 2017   Father John Sullivan, a prominent Irish Catholic convert is the first ever person to be beatified in Ireland. The beatification will take place on May 13 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Dublin, where the Jesuit priest's body [...]

NEPAL - Catholic community fearful after arson attack on Cathedral   Königstein/Kathmandu, 28.04.2017 .- On 18 April a deliberate arson attack caused some damage to the rectory attached to the church of the Assumption, the cathedral church of the apostolic vicariate of Nepal, which is situated on the outskirts of [...]

NIGERIA  Is government complicit in the supply of arms to Islamists? Bishop accuses authorities of inaction in face of “wave of terror”   A Bishop has accused the authorities in Nigeria of suspected supply of arms to an Islamist terrorist network who he claims have infiltrated federal and state governments. [...]

SYRIA - Remains of 5 abducted Christians finally laid to rest   Last week, Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham of Antioch finally celebrated the funeral Mass in Damascus for five Syrian Christians who had been abducted in 2013 by Islamist extremist rebels in the city of Maaloula. Following the Mass, [...]

Five Hundred Years Early - reflection on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation   On Thursday 20th and Saturday 22nd April 2017, the Otto Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin, took part in the commemoration of the fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation in Malta. It was 31st October 1517 when the [...]

LATVIA - A bright future for the priesthood   Latvia lies on the Baltic Sea, sandwiched between its northern neighbour, Estonia, and Lithuania to the south. Lutherans make up the majority of the population, with 55%, but at the same time another quarter of the population living here are Catholics. [...]

IRAQ - Returning Christians erect crosses in areas liberated from IS   In every village liberated from IS on the Nineveh plain, Christians are  erecting wooden crosses and placing them on the roofs of churches and houses as a sign of victory over the darkness of Islamic State. The placement [...]

INDIA -Bishops denounce latest incident against Christians   India's Catholic bishops have issued a press release strongly condemning the  violent police disruption of a Good Friday service at a small parish in the south of the country. The press release stated: “The Catholic Church in India is very distressed and [...]