The Catholic and Anglican bishops of Cork have issued a joint Christmas message, calling on the faithful to remember the season’s true meaning and to consider those forced to emigrate because of the recession.

The Church of Ireland has appointed its first ever female Bishop.

A South African archbishop who visited Nelson Mandela in hospital has offered a prayer in which he wishes for a “peaceful, perfect, end” for the former president and anti-apartheid leader.

“A Jesuit intellect and a Franciscan spirit may be exactly the combination of heart and head that the Church needs at this time.”

An explosive device set off in a Sunday school class in Kenya has killed one child and seriously wounded three.

Police and emergency services made “strenuous attempts” to deflect the blame for the Hillsborough disaster onto innocent fans, newly published documents revealed today.

Pope Benedict XVI named a married former Episcopal bishop to head the first US organisational structure for disaffected Anglicans and Episcopalians who want to join the Catholic Church.

A CONTROVERSIAL Anglican church that upset some Christians in 2009 with a risque billboard of Jesus’s mother looking dejected after unsatisfying sex with Joseph has rolled out another provocative publicity stunt.

The Archbishop of Canterbury today presented Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe with a dossier of abuses Anglicans have suffered in his country.

Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu is to retire from public life later this year when he turns 79.

A NEW ZEALAND church billboard depicting a downcast Joseph lying beside Mary in bed and the heading “God is a hard act to follow” has provoked a religious row.

POPE BENEDICT XVI has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the ordination of women and the election of openly gay bishops.

A Christian denomination that supports same-sex unions is expected to decide today whether to perform marriage ceremonies for gay couples.

Episcopalians in the US have declared gays and lesbians eligible for “any ordained ministry”, a vote expected to upset world Anglican leaders who had sought a clear moratorium on consecrating another gay bishop.

IRISH people should count their blessings and put their economic woes in perspective, according to Nobel Laureate and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

THERE seems little chance that all Canadian Anglican clergy will honour the moratorium on blessing same-sex unions requested by the worldwide Anglican communion.

Australia’s Anglican Church consecrated the country’s first female bishop today in a ceremony attended by hundreds but opposed by at least one prominent church leader.

The Anglican church in Australia has announced the appointment of the country’s first woman bishop.

THE Church of Ireland is showing a greater sense of purpose than the Catholic Church here.

The Archbishop of Canterbury in England is to evaluate a statement in which episcopal leaders in the US agree to “exercise restraint” in approving another gay bishop and not to authorise prayers to bless same-sex couples.

The Anglican Church of Canada will try again today to vote on the issue of blessing same-sex unions.

Retired Archbishop of Armagh Robin Eames is to be presented with the Tipperary International Peace Award next week, it was revealed today.

Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams acknowledged after talks today that there were “serious obstacles” on the path to closer ties between Catholics and Anglicans, reflecting tensions over Anglicans’ blessings of same-sex unions and steps to ordain female bishops.

NOBEL peace laureate Desmond Tutu, the conscience of South Africa, turns 75 today — his acerbic tongue and irrepressible humour as sharp as during his anti-apartheid crusades.

Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu turns 75 tomorrow – his acerbic tongue and irrepressible humour as sharp as during his anti-apartheid crusades.

Palestinians wielding guns, firebombs and lighter fluid attacked four churches in the West Bank town of Nablus on today, while gunmen opened fire at a fifth in Gaza, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that many Muslims view as disparaging.

THE Dean of Cork has been elected the next Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, replacing Bishop Peter Barrett, who resigned in January after separating from his wife, Ann.

A coalition of American churches sharply denounced the United States-led war in Iraq today, accusing Washington of “raining down terror”.

THE resignation of Fr Maurice Dillane because he fathered a child gave your columnist Ryle Dwyer (Irish Examiner, January 21) an opportunity to weigh in with his two cents’ worth.

The Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop Robin Eames has said that the North faces immense questions about the sort of society it wants to be.

An international panel of Anglican archbishops today called upon a gathering of their conservative American counterparts to split from the rest of the US Episcopal Church unless it abides by traditional teachings.

IN September 2001, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, caused dismay in ecclesiastical circles when he said Christianity in Britain had been all but vanquished.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland will today be asked by some of the relatives of victims of the Omagh bomb to back their campaign for a cross-border inquiry into the atrocity.

The first openly gay Anglican bishop says he is being falsely accused of suggesting Jesus might have been homosexual.

THE Anglican Church was edging closer towards a split last night over the ordination of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions.

The Anglican Church is set for a major split on the issue of homosexuality, as church leaders meeting in Newry have called on the church in the US and Canada to withdraw from the Anglican group of churches.

The leaders of the Anglican Communion around the world are meeting in Northern Ireland this week to discuss the crisis surrounding homosexuality in the church and the appointment of an openly gay bishop in the United States.

THE Anglican Bishop of Cork last night strongly denied weekend reports that he officiated at the baptism of David and Victoria Beckham’s children.

AN Anglican church commission sharply criticised the US Episcopal Church yesterday for consecrating a gay bishop and called on the church to apologise and refrain from promoting any other clergy living in a same-sex union.

The global Anglican Communion is ”broken” over the confirmation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire and may be beyond repair, the most influential Anglican leader in Africa said today.

HOPES of another quiet marching season in Northern Ireland this summer were raised after the annual parade to Drumcree passed off peacefully yesterday.

Former Governor General Peter Hollingworth, who resigned as the Queen’s representative in Australia a year ago over a paedophilia scandal, said today he took too long to comprehend the damage of child abuse.

A bitter and unrepentant Mordechai Vanunu spent his first night of freedom in a Jerusalem church after serving an 18-year prison term for disclosing Israel’s nuclear secrets.

African Anglican archbishops met in Kenya today to review their position on gays in the clergy, an issue that divided the church last year.