An official building permit has been issued for the unfinished Barcelona church designed by architect Antoni Gaudi - 137 years after construction started.

Philip Pullella Pope Francis, ending a landmark conference on sexual abuse of children by clergy, has called for an “all-out battle” against a crime he said should be “erased from the face of the Earth”.

Pope Francis has said fear of migration is "making us crazy" as he began a trip to Central America amid a standoff over President Donald Trump's promised wall at the US-Mexico border and a new caravan of migrants heading north.

There is scarcely a country in this world that has suffered more oppressively and horrendously, and been morally corrupted so egregiously under the tyranny of the Papacy than Ireland.

Where were the organisations that get state money to promote the interests of older people? writes Terry Prone. 

The Children's Minister has called for women priests to be allowed in the Catholic Church.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone says she shares former president Mary McAleese’s view that the Catholic Church is misogynistic, and she intends to raise these concerns in person when she visits the Irish College in Rome later this week.

During the 34-day High Court hearing, the woman gave evidence she was abused and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the man, a chaplain and teacher in her secondary school, between 2005-2007.

Philippine firefighters recovered a body from a burning shopping centre and there was "zero" chances of survival for 36 other trapped people inside the four-storey building.

The BBC has responded to criticism by the Archbishop of Canterbury about its handling of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

The Vatican's secretary of state has called for greater dialogue within the Roman Catholic Church.

The former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has died aged 85.

As the 500th anniversary of Luther’s ‘95 Theses’ approaches, Josephine Fenton is persuaded that this brave man of the Reformation should be celebrated

The Government says it will continue to assert “moral pressure” on religious orders to provide more money to cover the costs of redress to survivors of residential abuse, with one survivors’ group claiming Pope Francis should become involved.

Kya deLongchamps looks at the ancient roots and courtly early expressions of St Valentine’s Day.

Two of the country’s largest local authorities are to explore the option of developing Columbarium memorial walls to accommodate cremation urns and caskets in light of a shortage of grave plots.

Four Church leaders in Cork have united to condemn an attack on a Muslic cleric in the city last week.

Philippines’ president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has said he aims to bring back death by hanging.

Pope Francis tempered his Easter Sunday message of Christian hope with a denunciation of “blind” terrorism, recalling victims of attacks in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, as well as expressing dismay that people fleeing war or poverty are being denied a welcome, as European countries squabble over the refugee crisis.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a nun who dedicated her life to helping the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on September 4, Pope Francis announced.

When Pope Francis was elected he instanced two major issues that needed addressing: Firstly, reform of the Roman Curia (the Church’s civil service), and secondly establishing the underlying causes of child abuse by clerics and the cover up of that abuse by higher-placed clerics such as bishops and cardinals.

In the light of centuries of misogyny and patriarchy exhibited by the Christian churches, especially but not uniquely the Roman Catholic Church, under the guise of divine command, it is disappointing to read Margaret Hickey’s defence (Irish Examiner, 31 August 31) of banning Fr Tony Flannery from speaking on ‘Church property’.

The Primate of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has intervened in the Marriage Equality referendum.

Pope Francis said he believes his pontificate will be short and that he would be ready to resign like his predecessor rather than ruling for life.

Ecstatic crowds greeted Pope Francis as he arrived in the Philippines, Asia’s most populous Catholic nation, for the first papal visit in 20 years.

The Paraguayan government agreed to meet former workers who have nailed themselves to wooden crosses over a wage dispute.

Desmond Fisher, a respected commentator on religious matters and a journalist who worked in both the print and broadcast sectors, has died aged 94.

Pope Francis has sharply criticised the Vatican bureaucracy in a pre-Christmas address to cardinals, complaining of what he called "spiritual Alzheimer's" and "the terrorism of gossip".

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has rejected suggestions that recent rulings “stifled” debate on extending marriage rights to gay people.

Your reaction to Fr Gerard Condon (Irish Examiner, November 4) is distorted by confusion in your understanding of religion and faith.

Elton John called Pope Francis "my hero" for his compassion and push to accept gay people by the Roman Catholic Church, at his annual Aids benefit.

Despite his ultimate conversion, perhaps opportunistic, to the principles of democracy, Ian Paisley’s hate-filled rhetoric left a trail of dead bodies in its wake. TP O’Mahony reviews a mixed legacy.

Ian Paisley was probably the most fiery, uncompromising and bellicose Ulster politician throughout the Troubles.

Ian Paisley was probably the most fiery, uncompromising and bellicose Ulster politician throughout the Troubles, who late in life underwent a transformation.

CONTROVERSY IN VENEZUELA OVER CHAVEZ PRAYER

The centuries-old divide between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church is a "scandal", Pope Francis said as he met the Archbishop of Canterbury in Rome.

The centuries-old divide between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church is a “scandal”, Pope Francis said as he met the Archbishop of Canterbury in Rome.