Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was “proud” to march for his country in the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York, despite criticism by gay rights campaigners who protested at yesterday’s event.

In his first Mass as pope, Francis showed how different he would be as a pastor, giving an off-the-cuff homily about the need to walk with God, build up his Church, and confess — at one point referring to children building sandcastles on the beach.

Pope Francis spent his first day as the leader of 1.2bn Catholics praying, paying his hotel bill, and catching the bus.

Pope Francis has opened his pontificate this morning with a visit to Rome’s main basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics tonight, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pope in a remarkably fast conclave.

Black smoke has risen above the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, confirming there has been no agreement as yet (ie no two thirds majority) on the next Pope.

Formally speaking, the race for the next pope doesn’t open until 9.30am on Monday, when all the cardinals who have made it to Rome by then will meet for the first time in what’s called a “general congregation”.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been formally questioned about clergy sex abuse in his former Archdiocese of Milwaukee, just days ahead of his departure for Rome and the conclave that will elect the next pope.

A FEW years ago, on Dec 23, I got a morning call from RTÉ.

Pope Benedict is to resign his office at the end of this month after declaring he was too old to carry on as head of the Catholic Church.

The Association of Catholic Priests has accused the Archbishop of New York of destroying the reputation of priests “who had given lifelong service to the Irish Catholic Church”.

Eighty years and a world away from its last staging in Ireland, the International Eucharistic Congress has returned to Dublin to the delight of devout Catholics and a marked indifference by the wider public.

Pope Benedict XVI waded deep into US campaign politics, urging visiting US bishops to beef up their teaching about the evils of premarital sex and cohabitation, and denouncing what he called the “powerful” gay marriage lobby in America.