Pope Francis adjusts the hoodie of a baby during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 29. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Faith, Vatican Dispatch

Pope Francis: Dublin meeting will take a deep dive into “Amoris Laetitia” (and not just Chapter 8)

by Gerard O’Connell March 30, 2017

A deeper dive on ‘Amoris Laetitia’ is planned for the World Meeting of Families, to be held in Dublin in August 2018.

A European and British Union flags hang outside Europe House, the European Parliament's British offices, in London, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

If Scotland leaves the U.K., will Northern Ireland be next?

by David Stewart March 21, 2017

Each forecasted outcome would have been mocked only a few years ago—yet today, neither is unthinkable.

Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister and former IRA leader-turned-peacemaker, smiles during a Jan. 23 news conference in Belfast. McGuinness died early on March 21 at age 66. (CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

Northern Ireland political leader Martin McGuinness dies at 66

by Michael Kelly - Catholic News Service March 21, 2017

McGuinness was an early activist in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. Later, joined the Irish Republican Army, which was leading an armed insurrection against British rule in Northern Ireland.

St. Patrick is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Aloysius Church in Great Neck, N.Y. Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said that "as Irish people, we cannot think of St. Patrick without acknowledging the enormous humanitarian and pastoral challenges facing growing numbers of people who find themselves displaced and without status in our world." (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

News, Politics & Society

Irish archbishop: St. Patrick was an ‘undocumented migrant’

by Catholic News Service March 16, 2017

“Let us think about Patrick the ‘unlearned refugee’ (as he once described himself), the slave in exile, Patrick the undocumented migrant.”

News, Politics & Society

Protestant leader may step aside for unity deal in Northern Ireland

by Shawn Pogatchnik - Associated Press March 13, 2017

The senior Protestant politician in Northern Ireland left the door open Sunday for stepping aside as part of a potential deal to revive the British territory’s unity government with Catholics.

A Republican mural in West Belfast on March 2. A historic vote has upended the political landscape in Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

As political landscape shifts, bitter divisions resurface in Northern Ireland

by Rhona Tarrant March 7, 2017

For the first time since the partition of Ireland, Unionists are not in a majority in Stormont, where Northern Ireland’s parliament meets.

A section of the Peace Wall that divides Catholic and Protestant communities cuts its way through West Belfast, Northern Ireland. (CNS photo/Cathal McNaughton, Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Archbishop Martin reflects on a different Northern Ireland as bishops visit Rome

by Rhona Tarrant January 26, 2017

“The church is in a different space,” says Archbishop Martin. “We must be more invitational, using a ministry of presence, gently explaining the message of the church and inviting people in.”