When adherents of a faith insist on privileged status for them and them alone, like the Pope in 1870 and some followers of Islam today, it is more than problematic, writes TP O’Mahony

Pope Francis has beatified Pope Paul VI and declared that God is not afraid of new things as he concluded a remarkable meeting of bishops on family issues.

Pope Francis has beatified Pope Paul VI and declared that God is not afraid of new things as he concluded a remarkable meeting of bishops debating family issues.

A leading Church of Ireland cleric has urged legislators to "use caution" when preparing changes to the Constitution dealing with blasphemy as an offence.

The Synod of Bishops must embrace reform. There is something skewed about asking male celibates to review the Church’s teaching on family life, according to TP O’Mahony

Pope Francis proclaimed his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints in front of more than 500,000 pilgrims, hailing both as courageous men who withstood the tragedies of the 20th century.

Pope Francis, in his Easter address before a huge crowd, denounced the “immense wastefulness” in the world while many go hungry and called for an end to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Africa.

John Cornwell

The sick, elderly and bereaved in the diocese of Cork are suffering as there are not enough priests to cater for their spiritual needs.

The Vatican is turning to social media to reach out to the millions of pilgrims expected to attend the first double canonisation of popes in the history of the Catholic Church.

THE brisk sales of copies of Time magazine, with Pope Francis on the cover as Person of the Year, is yet another indicator of the growing popularity of the pontiff from Argentina. Yet none of this can disguise the fact the Church over which he presides is, in the words of Hans Kung, “gravely ill”.

Tóchar — Walking Ireland’s Ancient Pilgrim Paths

Pope Francis has outlined plans for reform of the Church to make it less “Vatican-centric” as he met with top cardinals tasked with helping him overhaul the 2,000-year-old institution.

Popes John XXIII and John Paul II will be declared saints at a ceremony on Apr 27 that might see two living popes honouring two dead ones.

Pope John Paul II has cleared the final obstacle before being made a saint.

Outspoken Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who was threatened with excommunication under the reign of Pope Benedict, has paid tribute to the former pope for stepping down — because, whether he intended it or not, he had paved the way for open discussion within the Church.

After only a few days, the new pope is already impressing people with his unregal approach, writes Tom Heneghan

Pope Francis’s apt choice of symbols has nods to tradition as well as his Argentinian roots, writes Daniela Petroff

Cardinals have set Tuesday as the start date for the conclave to elect the next pope.

Pope Benedict XVI left the Catholic Church in unprecedented limbo today as he became the first pope in 600 years to resign, capping a tearful day of farewells that included an extraordinary pledge of obedience to his successor.

He was supposed to be ‘God’s Rottweiler.’ AN Wilson looks at the paradox of Benedict XVI, a man who seemed more complicated than many of us wanted to imagine when he appeared.

Pope Benedict XVI hit his head during his March 2012 trip to Mexico, the Vatican says, denying it had any “relevant” role in his resignation.

With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its one billion followers by Easter.

Former president Mary McAleese has decried the Church’s treatment of five silenced priests, accusing Rome of operating through fear and imposing strictures on the clerics which “consume the truth”.

Fifty years on from Vatican II, Catholics are still split on what it actually achieved. Desmond Fisher wonders what next for a Church in crisis

Pope Benedict launched a campaign to bring lapsed believers back to the Roman Catholic fold, opening a major convention of bishops on what the Vatican has termed the “new evangelisation” of the developed world.

The diocese of Cork and Ross will start a recruitment drive in the coming months aimed at encouraging both married and unmarried parishioners to join the clergy by becoming deacons.

Thousands of people are set to attend day two of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin today, which began yesterday with lower than expected attendance and amid renewed calls for the resignation of Cardinal Seán Brady.

It may just be too late to relax the licensing laws to allow pubs stay open longer to allow next week’s Eucharistic Congress be celebrated with a peculiar Irish gusto — as was done at the last congress held in Ireland 80 years ago.

THE hope expressed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, that next weekend’s Eucharistic Congress will begin a process of healing for a deeply divided Irish Catholic Church is likely to prove a vain one.

The Catholic Church’s rules on celibacy are to be relaxed next month, when Ireland’s first group of married deacons are ordained.

In his letter (Apr 14)l John Riordan advances some ideas to which I might — as an octogenarian — be permitted to offer an alternative.

The Association of Catholic Priests has said it does not expect members of the Irish hierarchy to comment on the silencing by the Vatican of one of the group’s founders, Fr Tony Flannery.

Pope Benedict XVI began using a wheeled platform today to navigate the long aisle of St Peter’s Basilica, adopting the device employed by his ailing predecessor to reduce fatigue.

Barack Obama, will be the most heavily protected US president in history when he comes to Ireland on Monday, in contrast to a visit nearly 50 years ago, says TP O’Mahony

A lavishly-jewelled cross and a ring once owned by Pope Paul VI are heading to auction on eBay.

THREE Kerry men have started training to become deacons in the Catholic Church.

UP to 150 priests are expected to gather in Portlaoise today for the inaugural meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) — a reform-driven organisation which is aiming to “stand for moral courage”.

THE Vatican responded yesterday to allegations it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law.

WHILE the performance of the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmaid Martin following the publication of the Murphy report was impressive, his interview on RTÉ yesterday left much to be desired, but this may well reflect a failing within the Church itself.

Roman Catholic sisters in the US will be questioned about their loyalty to church doctrine amid fears of a Vatican crackdown on liberalism in women’s religious communities.

An ultraconservative society recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI silenced one of its bishops today and distanced itself from his claim that no Jews were gassed during the Second World War.

Italy’s rabbis said today they were pulling out of the Italian Catholic Church’s annual celebration of Judaism, saying recent decisions by Pope Benedict XVI were negating 50 years of interfaith progress.