Welcom Archive 2007-2026

Concern that attendances at Mass have not returned to pre-pandemic levels has prompted the Irish bishops to prepare a special pastoral letter on Sunday Mass.

The military junta in Myanmar has occupied the Loikaw cathedral complex and plans to use the building as a shield in its war against resistance forces, says the local bishop who was forced to flee the complex. 

Christians across East and West Africa are facing twin threats from jihadists and dictatorships, according to the 2024 World Watch List. 

A major vocation crisis could result in fewer than 10 active priests in the Clogher diocese in the north of Ireland in less than 20 years, according to the local ordinary, Bishop Larry Duffy. ‘Over the past few months, over 40 people from 12 parishes across the diocese have taken part in a formation course to enable them to accompany people and families at the time of bereavement,’ Bishop Duffy announced in a Christmas pastoral letter. Other parishes have indicated a ‘willingness’ to nominate people for a similar course in the spring, he wrote.

For more than 100 years, MPs in the State of Victoria, Australia, have started each parliamentary sitting day with the Lord’s Prayer. But this could soon change, with the new premier conceding the tradition does not reflect the state’s growing cultural diversity. ‘We are seeing greater cultural diversity. I think it’s important we do look at reflecting that in our parliamentary practices,’ Jacinta Allan, Premier of Victoria, told reporters.

In January, the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Daniel Ortega released and sent to the Vatican two imprisoned bishops along with 15 priests and seminarians. In tears, Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez, exiled due to persecution by the Ortega dictatorship, confirmed the news of the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna and the remaining priests and seminarians: ‘Our pastors are free.’

Oscar winner Martin Scorsese has confirmed a script for his new movie, A Life of Jesus, is now finished. Scorsese said he plans to shoot it later this year. The film will be based on Shūsaku Endō’s book A Life of Jesus. Scorsese said the film will focus on Jesus’ core teachings in a way that explores the principles but doesn’t proselytise. ‘I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organised religion,’ Scorsese said.

The Church will celebrate its first World Day of Children in May 2024, Pope Francis has announced. The Church’s first children’s day will be held in Rome and the Vatican is expecting thousands of girls and boys from all over the world to travel to Rome for the event with the Pope. According to Vatican News, the event was inspired by a 9-year-old boy named Alessandro, who proposed the idea to the Pope to have an international event like World Youth Day (an international gathering for young people ages 16 to 35) for younger children.

To connect with God, Christians must disconnect from the ‘pollution of vain words and chatter’ that reach them through social media and instead seek silence in the desert, Pope Francis says. He said the desert is ‘the place of silence and essentials, where someone cannot afford to dwell on useless things, but needs to concentrate on what is indispensable in order to live.’