Cardinal: Church did not cover up role of ‘terrorist’ priest
Cardinal Seán Brady has denied a “cover-up” after an investigation concluded that the Church conspired with the Government and police to relocate a priest suspected of one of the worst atrocities of...
View ArticlePope condemns ‘false god’ of terrorism
Pope Benedict XVI has warned participants at the opening session of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East of the threat of “false gods” that beset the modern world. After leading prayers in the...
View ArticlePope condemns ‘absurd violence’ of Baghdad church siege
Pope Benedict XVI has described yesterday’s deadly militant siege of a Catholic cathedral in Baghdad as a “savage” act of “absurd violence”. The Pope urged international and national authorities and...
View ArticleWave of bomb blasts target Christians in Baghdad
A series of bomb blasts targeting Christians in Baghdad has killed at least three people and injured two dozen more, security sources have said. At least 14 roadside bombs were detonated and a mortar...
View ArticleTerrorism expert addresses Catholic sixth formers
The St Bede’s Literary and Philosophical Society was delighted to be given a rare insight into the world of counter terrorism by Catholic police officer Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter....
View ArticlePope signs new measures to guarantee financial transparency in the Vatican
Benedict XVI has instituted a new agency to monitor all Vatican financial operations and make sure they meet international norms against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. The Pope issued...
View ArticleBenedict XVI condemns Moscow bombing
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned the suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport and offered his prayers for the 35 people who died, for the dozens who were injured and for the victims’ families....
View ArticleWinning the Olympic Games was a great national disaster. We have reduced...
My original intention vis-a-vis the forthcoming Olympic extravaganza was to keep quiet about my own feelings of irritation and despondency over the whole phenomenon (feelings which go back to the very...
View ArticleZanzibar bishop says his priests are terrified after murder
Zanzibar’s bishop has said priests and other clergy in his diocese are terrified after a priest was murdered outside his parish church in what is seen by many as a terrorist attack. “We are very...
View ArticleAfter the latest terrorist outrage, the international community must wake up...
Alas, poor Kenya, the victim of another terrorist attack, reported here by the BBC. Unidentified gunmen raided the Jesus Joy Church, a Pentecostal congregation, in Likoni, killing at least six people,...
View ArticleThe tragedy of the Yazidis of Iraq
As a Catholic living in Egypt, back in 1997 when I was a fledgling diplomat learning Arabic in the British Council by the sides of the Nile, I used to go to a Coptic church every Sunday. Praying in...
View ArticleFrancis sends letter of condolence to family of Steven Sotloff
Pope Francis has sent a letter of condolence to the family of Steven Sotloff, the second US journalist slain this summer by Islamic State (IS) terrorists. “His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened...
View ArticleBoko Haram have destroyed 186 churches, Nigerian diocese says
Nearly 200 churches in the Maiduguri Diocese in north-eastern Nigeria have been destroyed or razed by Boko Haram insurgents since August, a diocesan official said. Father Gideo Obasogie, director of...
View ArticleMuslim leaders from around the world issue ISIS rebuke
More than 100 Muslim leaders — clerics and laypeople alike — have signed an open letter criticising terrorist group ISIS. In the 17-page letter, the leaders quote extensively from the Quran to rebuke...
View ArticleThe Iraqis determined to seize control of their future after fleeing ISIS
When ISIS was pushing its way into Qaraqosh, a Christian town in Iraq’s north-western Nineveh Plain, late in June, Hayfaa Messo was at the town’s hospital visiting her eldest daughter. A mother of...
View ArticleReports: ISIS militants damage convent in Mosul
ISIS militants have severely damaged a convent in Mosul in northern Iraq, according to reports. Fides news agency have reported that the Convent of the Chaldean Sisters of the Sacred Heart had been...
View ArticleAll Islamic leaders need to condemn terror clearly, says Pope
Pope Francis called on leaders across the Muslim world to condemn violence committed in the name of Islam during a press conference on his flight home from Turkey. The Pope said he told Turkish...
View ArticleChristian clergy visit family of Muslim pilot captured by ISIS
Christian clergy led by the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem have visited the family of the Muslim Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS and expressed their support. Lt Muath Kasasbeh, 26, became the...
View ArticleVatican condemns Charlie Hebdo massacre
The Vatican has condemned today’s massacre at satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Twelve people, including the editor, three cartoonists and two policemen, are known to be among the...
View ArticleBenedict XVI showed the way forward for the Muslim world
How should Catholics react to the Charlie Hebdo massacre? We have already had a reaction from Cardinal Nichols and one from the Pope. The cardinal urges prayer, and the Pope does the same. Prayer is...
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