Stolen Czech reliquaries recovered in Ireland 30 years on

Reliquaries that were stolen from a church in the Czech Republic almost 30 years ago have been recovered in Ireland, gardaí have said.

Churches in parts of the Czech Republic were frequent targets of theft in the 1990s.

Now, decades on, some of these treasures are making their way back.

Detectives from the Arts and Antiques Crime Investigation Unit, which is part of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, were alerted to the items by Interpol last year.

"We received correspondence about the reliquaries from Interpol," explained Detective Sergeant Paul Sweeney, from the Arts and Antiques Crime Investigation Unit.

"A former search team member in the Ministry of Culture in the Czech Republic had discovered these two reliquaries for sale in an Irish auction," he said.

A reliquary is a container which contains sacred relics - objects that are venerated due to their association with a saint, usually personal possessions or body parts.

Gardaí have stressed there is no criminal investigation and said the person who bought the items in Europe and then brought them back to Ireland did so in good faith.

They also say the auctioneers believed the items were legitimate.

"Our unit assists our European colleagues in tackling illegal trafficking of cultural objects around Europe, due to wars but we're satisfied there's no criminal element to this.

"These items were bought legitimately in Europe many years ago and brought back to Ireland.

"The owner collected items like this as a hobby," Det Sgt Sweeney added.

"Last year the items were found in a house and put up for auction and that's when the items were spotted.

"It was reported to the police in the Czech Republic, who liaise with us through Interpol, to ultimately assess these items and seize them on the behalf of the Czech authorities."

Gardaí say they sought the assistance of the National Museum of Ireland who have expertise in this area.

"We work very closely with the Art and Antiques unit in An Garda Síochána and we were contacted by them, following a request from Czechia, where probably a reverse image search of these objects had established they were actually in Ireland."

Matt Seaver, assistant keeper with the Irish Antiquities Division in the National Museum of Ireland, said the items are 18th century reliquaries.

"These are two gilt wooden reliquaries and they would have stood either side of an altar in a church," said Mr Seaver.

"They contain little relics of a variety of different saints, so maybe pieces of cloth or bone, and they're held within a glass structure in the centre of it," he added.

"We go on field work with the unit regularly so we accompanied them to verify that these were the objects that were in the image supplied to us."

Mr Seaver said they were satisfied that they were in fact the reliquaries stolen from the church in Czech Republic at least 26 years ago.

"They're in safe-keeping here at the conservation studio of the National Museum of Ireland until they're returned."

Gardaí say that process is under way.

"At the moment we're going through a mutual assistance legal request to repatriate these items to the Czech Republic," said Det Sgt Sweeney.

While this case is unusual, gardaí say they want to increase awareness around some of the other work the Arts and Antiques Crime Investigation Unit is involved in, including the practice of metal detecting around national monuments.

"We have amateur metal detectors who may not be aware of their obligations when finding items, that they have to report from them to the National Museum," said Det Sgt Sweeney.

"It is a criminal offence, failure to report items found around national monuments, under the National Monuments Act," he said.

"There is a significant amount of Irish cultural heritage being removed from the ground and sold online and our unit is trying to raise awareness around people's obligations and around the law.

"Where necessary, we will seize these items and bring people before the course for prosecution," he warned.

The National Museum is also involved in combatting the illegal sale of important and historical items, working with the gardaí.

"We participate in international operations with the gardaí, like things like Operation Pandora, where we search online for Irish archeological objects which might have been acquired outside of the law," said Mr Seaver.

"We submit maybe 20 cases or more to the guards every year," he said.

Mr Seaver said the work is time-consuming but important.

"A lot of it is done on social media and involves us searching on social media sites, looking for objects that might have been recovered, that actually belong to the nation, but are being withheld from the nation or possibly sold on."

Lay Leader Who Criticized Cardinal Cupich Phased Out of Catholic Conference Board

Nearly six months after publicly criticizing Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plan to give a “lifetime achievement” award to a pro-abortion-rights senator, a long-serving lay member of the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) board of directors is being involuntarily phased out of his role. 

John Breen, a Loyola University Chicago law professor who has served on CCI’s board since 2012, will be off the board after the group’s upcoming March 20 meeting, the Register has learned. 

An informed source confirmed to the Register that the move is linked to Breen’s September 2025 criticism of the Chicago cardinal’s intention to honor Sen. Dick Durbin at an archdiocesan gala.

When reached by the Register and asked if leaving the board was his decision, Breen said “No” and provided no further comment.

In a written response to the Register’s inquiry about Breen not being retained as a board member, the CCI cited changes to its governance procedures.

“We recognize the sacrifice of time and talent each member makes and have amended our governance to require a staggered membership cycle of board members,” the CCI said.

The organization, which serves as the Catholic Church’s public-policy voice in Illinois, said the change will allow for a mix of transition and continuity among board members, adding that “two of our longest-serving members” will be rotating off after seven two-year terms. The Register confirmed independently that Michael Fitzgerald, an accountant based in the Diocese of Springfield, is the other lay board member whose tenure is ending.

According to a copy of CCI’s bylaws obtained by the Register, which were amended in 2023, six lay leaders are to be selected by Illinois’ diocesan ordinaries for “two-year terms” and can come from any diocese. However, neither term limits nor a staggered membership cycle are mentioned in the bylaws, nor does it appear they have previously been enforced.

In fact, a source familiar with the development who was granted anonymity to speak freely, told the Register that Breen’s criticism of Cardinal Cupich prompted CCI leadership to begin reviewing enforcement of lay board member terms in the first place, leading to Breen’s nonrenewal.

The source confirmed that “conference leadership” was upset with Breen “because of what he said to the public,” which was viewed as the layman “speaking out of turn.” 

It is unclear who exactly was involved in the decision to enforce term limits only now or to select Breen and Fitzgerald specifically from among CCI’s lay advisory board members for nonrenewal. When asked for comment on Breen’s departure, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told the Register he had no first-hand knowledge of the decision because “the CCI board has not discussed this yet.”

According to the organization’s bylaws, Cardinal Cupich, as the current archbishop of Chicago, is the de facto head of the CCI. While a decision to remove a lay member from the board would require a majority vote of Illinois’s six diocesan ordinaries, according to the bylaws, it is not clear whether enforcing membership terms requires a similar vote. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago did not respond to a request for comment.

Criticism of Award

In September, Breen told the Register that Cardinal Cupich’s plan to honor Durbin risked undermining CCI’s advocacy and called Durbin, who has pushed to codify abortion access into federal law, a “poster child for the ‘inconsistent ethic of life.’”

“All of our work is premised upon the dignity of the human person,” Breen had said. “And yet you are going to honor a man who denies the dignity of a whole class of persons? It makes no sense.”

Breen’s public comments came after CCI leadership had canceled a regularly scheduled Sept. 25 board meeting after the lay leader had requested that discussion of the Durbin award be added to the agenda. 

Ten of Cardinal Cupich’s fellow bishops also publicly criticized the decision to fête Durbin, including Bishop Paprocki, who had previously barred the pro-abortion-rights senator from receiving Holy Communion in his diocese. Durbin eventually declined the award shortly after Pope Leo XIV weighed in on the controversy. 

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Breen is an expert on Catholic social teaching and Catholic legal thought. A resident of the Diocese of Joliet, he is the author of A Light Unseen: A History of Catholic Legal Education and has written articles applying Catholic teaching to abortion law, economics and academic freedom.

In its statement, the CCI expressed gratitude for its departing board members.

Unexpected: Vatican court rules trial against Cardinal Becciu partially invalid and orders a retrial

A new chapter has opened in one of the most consequential financial trials ever held within the walls of the Vatican City. 

In a decision that reshapes the legal trajectory of the case, the Court of Appeal has ordered a partial retrial of the proceedings concerning the management of Holy See funds, introducing what it describes as a “renewal of the evidentiary phase” while preserving key elements of the original judgment. 

The ruling, issued on March 17 and presided over by Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, does not annul the 2023 first-instance verdict. 

Instead, it identifies a “relative nullity” affecting specific procedural acts - particularly those tied to the presentation and accessibility of evidence - requiring that parts of the trial be reheard at the appellate level. 

 At the core of the decision lies a fundamental legal concern: the right of the defense to full access to the evidentiary record. 

The court has ordered the Office of the Promoter of Justice, led by Alessandro Diddi, to deposit by April 30, 2026, the complete and unredacted version of all investigative materials. 

Defense lawyers had argued that earlier disclosures were incomplete and, in some cases, heavily redacted, limiting their ability to challenge the prosecution’s case effectively. 

 The judges agreed that this deficiency constituted a violation of procedural norms under Vatican criminal law. 

In particular, they found that the integrity of the indictment itself had been compromised by the incomplete transmission of evidence, a flaw significant enough to require corrective action but not sufficient to invalidate the entire trial. 

The distinction is critical. While the appellate court mandates the repetition of certain evidentiary steps—such as the examination of witnesses or reassessment of specific documents - it explicitly affirms that the original judgment retains legal effect. 

Acquittals not appealed by the prosecution, or appeals already deemed inadmissible, remain untouched. Similarly, the standing of civil parties is preserved without alteration. 

The timeline set by the court reflects an effort to balance procedural rigor with judicial efficiency. 

Following the April deadline for the full deposit of documents, the parties will have until June 15 to review the material and prepare their arguments. 

A new hearing is scheduled for June 22, at which the court will establish the calendar for the renewed proceedings. 

Beyond the issue of evidentiary access, the ruling also addresses a second, more complex controversy: the use of special papal decrees - known as rescripta - issued by Pope Francis during the investigative phase. 

These decrees, adopted between July 2019 and February 2020, expanded the powers of Vatican prosecutors, authorizing measures such as financial inquiries without standard reporting obligations, the use of electronic surveillance, and the judicial use of seized documents. 

Defense teams had argued that the delayed publication of these rescripta undermined the fairness of the process, claiming that neither defendants nor their lawyers were fully aware of the legal framework governing the investigation at the time it unfolded. 

Some went further, invoking international standards, including the European Convention on Human Rights, to argue that the trial violated principles of due process. 

On this point, the Court of Appeal drew a clear line. 

It rejected the applicability of external legal frameworks, noting that Vatican law does not formally incorporate the 1950 Convention. 

At the same time, however, it acknowledged that the failure to publish at least one key rescriptum in a timely manner - specifically that of July 2, 2019 - had a tangible impact on the legitimacy of certain investigative acts carried out under its authority. 

This nuanced position reflects the hybrid nature of the Vatican’s legal system, where the Pope exercises legislative, executive and judicial powers, and where procedural safeguards are still evolving under the pressure of increasingly complex cases. 

The trial itself, which began in 2021, centers on the controversial investment in a London property and other financial operations involving the Secretariat of State. 

Among the ten defendants is cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu. His conviction in the first instance marked an unprecedented moment in Vatican judicial history, signaling a willingness to prosecute senior officials at the highest levels. 

The appellate court’s decision does not reverse that moment, but it does recalibrate the process that produced it. 

By insisting on full transparency of evidence and reaffirming the rights of the defense, the judges appear intent on reinforcing the credibility of a judicial system that has come under intense international scrutiny. 

At stake is more than the outcome of a single trial. 

The case has become a test of the Vatican’s commitment to legal reform, financial accountability and procedural fairness - areas that have gained prominence in recent years, not least due to external evaluations such as those conducted by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body. 

The order for a partial retrial suggests that the Vatican judiciary is willing to confront its own procedural shortcomings without dismantling the broader structure of the case. 

It is, in effect, an attempt to correct the course midstream: preserving the substance of the prosecution while addressing the legal vulnerabilities that could otherwise undermine the final verdict. 

Whether this recalibration will ultimately strengthen or complicate the case remains to be seen. 

What is clear is that the trial -  already historic in scope - has entered a new phase, one that will test not only the evidence presented but the resilience of the Vatican’s evolving system of justice.

Potential merger of Leeds and Middlesbrough Diocese

Pope Leo has invited Catholics in the Dioceses of Leeds and Middlesbrough to explore working together with a view to a “possible future union as one diocesan family”, according to the Bishop of Leeds.

Bishop Marcus Stock asked Catholics in both northern dioceses to join a consultation process on the potential merger by completing an online questionnaire by Friday 22 May 2026.  

They may do so “either individually or as a parish group”, Stock explains on the website of Leeds Diocese where the questionnaire is available. 

It invites Catholics to “prayerfully” answer two questions: “How could bringing the Dioceses of Leeds and Middlesbrough under one Bishop strengthen or challenge our shared mission and pastoral care across the region?”

“What practical, spiritual and structural implications would working under one Bishop have for the Clergy, parishes, schools, and diocesan services?”

In December, Pope Leo appointed Stock the Apostolic Administrator of Middlesbrough Diocese after accepting the resignation of the Bishop of Middlesbrough, Terrence Drainey. 

The consultation document begins with a historical reminder: in 1850, following the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, Yorkshire formed one Diocese of Beverley. In 1878, this was divided into the Dioceses of Leeds and Middlesbrough. 

There are currently 73 parishes in Leeds Diocese and 69 in Middlesbrough. Sixty-two priests are active in Leeds of whom 24 are aged under 60, 29 priests are active in Middlesbrough of whom nine are under 60. Seven meetings will take place during the consultation.

After Bishop Stock has consulted the clergy, lay faithful and a number of diocesan organisations including multi-academy trusts, he will submit a report to the Pope who will decide the outcome. 

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle is encouraging Catholic parishes to use a “Mission Discernment Toolkit” available on its website.

Bishop Stephen Wright of Hexham and Newcastle said the toolkit was intended to help implement the “diocesan vision” which emerged from a process undertaken in 2025.  

“This is not simply an administrative exercise, it is a spiritual invitation to discern where the Lord is leading us now,” he said on a video on the diocesan website.

Kilkenny and Diocese of Ossory await new Bishop appointment

Speculation abounds that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory could lose the privilege of having its own bishop, if discussions understood to be currently under way are realised.

Under the mooted proposals, Bishop of Ferns Gerard Nash could take over long-term responsibility for Ossory, although the diocese would retain its separate identity, a source suggests.

The move would follow a trend in other areas of Ireland where smaller dioceses are being united with larger ones, under instructions from Pope Leo XIV.

Already, the dioceses of Clonfert and Galway have been united under a single bishop, as have Elphin and Achonry, and Tuam and Killala.

There is even a possible suggestion that Bishop Niall Coll, who was recently transferred to his native diocese of Raphoe, may also be given responsibility for Derry, whose Bishop is past retirement age.

There is a longstanding bishopric tradition in Ossory since the setting up of the current diocesan boundaries in 1178, with 57 bishops appointed over eight-and-a half centuries.

In a statement to Kilkenny Live, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Ossory said: "It is possible that the outcome of this might be the union of the Diocese with another in the person of the Bishop (In persona episcopi). In this manner one Bishop would lead two dioceses. This has happened in several cases in recent years throughout Ireland and even in many other countries.  

"In making a recommendation to the Holy See, having listened carefully to all who were consulted, the Nuncio will suggest the person or outcome that will allow for the best possible future for the Diocese and its ability to care for the people of Ossory," the spokesperson continued.

"The process for selecting a bishop to lead the Diocese could only begin at the time of the Diocese becoming vacant. This, for Ossory, was in late January.

"At that point the Papal Nuncio began a process of extensive consultation with people, religious and the priests of the diocese. This process will naturally take some time, often this can take up to a year and in some cases longer. As part of this process the Papal Nuncio will presumably also consult outside of the Diocese," they added.

Bishops hail Scottish lawmakers for rejecting assisted dying; UK faces pivotal abortion vote

Scottish Catholic bishops welcomed Parliament’s decision to reject the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill March 17 — a move shelving a measure that would have allowed eligible adults “to lawfully request, and be provided with, assistance by health professionals to end their own life.”

Members of the Scottish Parliament, known as Holyrood, “can be confident that they have taken the correct and responsible course of action,” the country’s bishops’ conference president said in a March 17 statement.

‘Protect most vulnerable individuals’

“Their vote serves to protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death,” Bishop John Keenan of Glasgow said.

“Every human life possesses inherent value. Genuine compassion is not expressed through ending a life, but through accompanying those who suffer and ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual support that recognises their dignity. No life is without worth,” the statement read.

The bill was introduced in March 2024 by Scottish parliamentarian Liam McArthur. According to the bill, eligibility requirements included a person who is 18 years of age or older, terminally ill, and must “have sufficient capacity to make and understand the decision.” 

The bill was amended recently to raise the minimum age from 16 to 18. The bill would have been the first one in the United Kingdom — which Scotland is a part of, along England, Wales and Northern Island — to allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults. 

‘According to their conciences’

Holyrood parliamentarians “had been given a free vote on the assisted dying bill, which meant they could decide according to their consciences, rather than along party lines,” The Associated Press reported. 

“As a society, our responsibility is not to address suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround each person with care, respect, and dignity until their natural end,” the Scottish bishop wrote, adding that the March 17 decision “moves Scotland further in that direction.”

That also requires specific action, the statement underlined. “Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it,” it said.

A decisive ‘major victory’ 

Advocacy groups opposing the measure called the 69-to-57 vote a decisive “major victory” moment, possibly influencing future debates across the U.K. It was recently reported that the British Parliament may eventually reject the long-debated U.K. legislation that would allow assisted suicide.

Right to Life said in its March 17 statement that David Bol, deputy political editor of The Scotsman, described the final vote on the bill as “potentially the biggest decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament,” a sentiment echoed by other prominent political commentators.

Scottish public had “major concerns with legalizing assisted suicide and the negative impact that it would have on the most vulnerable in Scotland,” Right to Life said, citing recent statistics.

Concern for domestic violence victims

A women’s policy think tank, The Other Half, found that 7 in 10 Scots were concerned that victims of domestic abuse could feel pressured into ending their lives if assisted dying were legalized.

“After eating disorder campaigners warned that people with eating disorders would be eligible for assisted suicide under the Bill, the think tank published polling that found that only one in five Scots would support legislation that allowed patients with anorexia to end their lives by assisted suicide,” the organization said.

Meanwhile, the advocacy group Not Dead Yet UK revealed that 69% of Scottish adults agreed that the Scottish Parliament should prioritize improving access to care for people with disabilities before an assisted suicide bill would be introduced, Right to Life said, adding that only 18% of Scots disagreed.

‘Principle of human dignity’

Expressing his gratitude to the members of the Scottish Parliament, Bishop Keenan said he is “especially grateful to those who upheld the principle of human dignity and advocated on behalf of the vulnerable. Your principled commitment has not gone unnoticed.”

While the British assisted suicide bill is expected to fail as a consequence of the Scottish parliamentary decision — concerns rise for other life issues in British legislation.

On March 18, the House of Lords will be voting on an amendment to remove a clause in the Crime and Policing Bill which decriminalizes abortion. Under this clause, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, at any point up to and during birth.

Proposed change in U.K. abortion law

“Clause 208, which decriminalizes abortion, was inserted into the Crime and Policing Bill after an amendment was passed in the House of Commons last June, following just 46 minutes of debate,” advocacy organization Christian Concern said in a March 18 press release, announcing a demonstration in London “to gather in opposition to abortion vote in the House of Lords.”

Organized by Christian Concern, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, March for Life UK and other pro-life campaign groups, the demonstration is expected to gather “hundreds” to ask members of Parliament to reject abortion up to birth.

Greens will pay a high price for attacking Christianity (Opinion)

As the Labour Government beavers away undermining our historic constitution – jury trials, hereditary peers, free speech rights – the Green Party has announced that it wants to go one better. 

If it wins the next election, it will separate the Church of England from the state.

Its new policy calls for the final split between the Christian faith and national government, which have been intertwined since Saxon times. 

Bishops will be expelled from the Lords. The state will play no role in their appointment. 

The Church Commissioners, who administer billions of pounds of historic property, will no longer be represented in the Commons. Parliament will lose oversight of a church, which, like the NHS, has a role of spiritual service for the “cure of souls” for all.

This policy would be the culmination of a relentless drive to edge Christianity out of public life. The Greens might argue that this trend is progressive and inevitable. 

But is it what the British public really wants?

The Greens, especially under Zack Polanski, invoke the language of populism: they claim to speak for the masses that have been neglected by the mainstream parties. But disestablishing the Church of England is far from popular.

The results of a survey released last week by Whitestone Insight shows that 58 per cent of Britons think that “Christianity has something to offer governance”. 

It also finds that 52 per cent believe that if Britain continues to move away from its Christian roots, “it will be to the detriment of future generations”.

Only 25 per cent, meanwhile, called for a complete separation of church and state with no interaction between them. 

And strikingly, the youngest age group were more positive about Christianity in public life than the middle-aged.

The poll suggests that the Greens are out of touch with the common understanding of how important Christianity still is to British nationhood. 

While 39 per cent of people think that Britain still is a Christian country, 50 per cent accept that it was once, even if not now, a Christian country.

Many respondents agreed that the country’s morals and institutions had fragmented with the decline of Christianity in the modern age. 

60 per cent said Britain had lost any “meaningful shared sense of what is right and wrong”.

The Green Party’s own core values call for “social justice” and state that “the success of a society cannot be measured by narrow economic indicators” but rather “personal freedom, social equity, health, happiness, human fulfilment”, not to mention tolerance, environmental stewardship, and regard for future generations. 

It seems perverse that the Greens want to do away with Christianity: it has been a leading force for putting such ideas at the heart of national life.

Too easily have the Greens forgotten that the great developments in British social justice and environmental care have come directly from Christianity. 

The founders of the National Trust (Octavia Hill, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley) and the RSPCA (Reverend Arthur Broome) were inspired by Christianity.

It was likewise for other great 19th-century charities that revolutionised the care of the poor, children, orphaned, prisoners, sick and disabled. 

The very phrase “welfare state” was coined by William Temple, an Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Christianity always insisted that all humans had inalienable value, and that social bonds were necessary for society to flourish.

Even British ideas of religious tolerance grew out of Christianity, with the post-Reformation concept that freedom of conscience – even to follow other faiths provided one obeyed the law – was fundamental for honest Christian adherence, and that a Christian state would guarantee such freedom as a bulwark for religion.

The Greens’ ultra-liberal policies – gender self-ID, drug liberalisation, open borders – where the satisfaction of the self trumps society can only undermine the party’s own underlying values. 

The rejection of Christianity is the apotheosis of this self-destructive tendency, as all the principles the Greens claim to profess are themselves Christian in origin and character.

Can anyone be confident that Britain will maintain its moderate and cohesive character if the Greens purge Christianity from the state? 

Can a secularised state stand up to the emboldened radical Islamism that appears to be ever more visible in the Green Party itself? 

As Christianity has been so successful in upholding the Greens’ core values, perhaps they should leave it well alone.

Lithuanian Orthodox Church declares aim for greater independence from Moscow

The council of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church on Tuesday adopted an appeal declaring its aim to seek greater independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, while stressing that such a move must comply with canon law. 

It also expressed resentment at being named in a recent national security report as a threat.

In a statement released by the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese, the council said canonical affiliation is not linked to politics but is instead a long-standing element of religious identity that enjoys constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion.

The council emphasised that the church’s pursuit of greater autonomy from Moscow – a move it has been pressured to make since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – would be carried out strictly within the framework of canon law.

“Canonical dependence on the Moscow Patriarchate, expressed through the mention of the patriarch’s name during services, has not prevented us from being law-abiding citizens and patriots of Lithuania,” the statement said.

At the same time, the council voiced concern over references to the church in the annual national security report of the State Security Department and statements by some officials.

“Such remarks create a negative perception of the country’s second-largest religious community, which has for many years operated in full compliance with Lithuanian law,” the council said.

The appeal stressed that the Orthodox Church is an integral part of Lithuanian society and contributed to the country’s independence, calling for trust between state institutions and religious communities to be maintained.

Lithuanian intelligence assessments have said the Orthodox Church plays a role in promoting “narratives” aligned with the Russian government, though church leadership has publicly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine and repeatedly expressed its intention to seek greater independence from Moscow.

The archdiocese has requested a form of partial self-governance from the Moscow Patriarchate, but no decision has been made.

Following the intelligence report, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys last week called for those linked to Russian intelligence services to be “delicately removed” from the church.

The archdiocese, however, has said it is not a branch of any foreign religious organisation and maintains that its ties to the Moscow Patriarchate are purely canonical.

Separately, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople reestablished its exarchate in Lithuania in 2023 after nearly 300 years, following a dispute between part of the clergy and church leadership.

Patriarch Ilia II, Leader of Georgian Orthodox Church, Dies at 93

Patriarch Ilia II, whose nearly five decades of rule have marked the growing influence of the Georgian Orthodox Church, has died at the age of 93, nearly a day after he was hospitalized amid deteriorating health, Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, Patriarchal locum tenens, announced late on March 17.

He died in the Caucasus Medical Center, a hospital in Tbilisi, where he had spent the past hours in intensive care after being admitted in the early hours with heavy stomach bleeding. 

The news of his death follows years of declining health, which had reduced his public appearances and services.

“He was an epochal figure. This is a great loss for the Orthodox Church worldwide. I want to extend my condolences to every Georgian, to all of Georgia, our Church, and the entire Christian world,” Metropolitan Shio told journalists gathered at the hospital around 22:45 local time amid reports of the Patriarch’s passing. “Through him, through his labors, God brought Georgia back to the faith,” the cleric said, noting that the Patriarch had died “minutes ago.”

Metropolitan Shio, who was named by Ilia II as his locum tenens in 2017, will assume the late Patriarch’s duties before the election of a new Patriarch by an extended church assembly.

The rule of Ilia II, who became Patriarch in 1977, under Soviet rule, at the age of 44, has spanned Georgia’s major historical milestones, including the restoration of independence in 1991. 

Under his leadership, the Georgian Orthodox Church has become one of the country’s most influential institutions, with roughly 83% of the population identifying with it across political divides in an otherwise deeply polarized society.

A widely revered figure, Ilia II has consistently topped approval rankings in Georgia, while the Church has likewise retained the status of the country’s most trusted institution.

His rule was also marked by controversies, including scandals linked to internal power struggles, persistent questions surrounding the foreign policy leanings of the Church and its domestic political stances, as well as criticism over the state granting the Church preferential treatment, among others.

Rule Marked by Respect, Influence, and Controversies

Born in Vladikavkaz on January 4, 1933, as Irakli Shiolashvili, Ilia entered the monastic order in 1957. He was appointed the Patriarch’s Chorepiscopus in 1963, elevated to Metropolitan in 1969, and named Patriarchal Locum Tenens in November 1977, following the passing of Patriarch Davit V. In December 1977, he was elected Catholicos-Patriarch, becoming the 141st Primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

His rise through the clerical ranks coincided with a shift away from earlier Soviet repressive policies cracking down on religion, as political discourses came to increasingly position Orthodox Christianity as a central element of Georgian national identity.

The trend became especially pronounced in the years of national movement during the 1980s and 1990s, leading to Georgia’s regained independence. 

That came despite the Patriarch’s known strained relations with the movement’s leader, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and his controversial role during the April 1989 demonstrations, when he urged protesters to disperse shortly before Soviet troops carried out a deadly crackdown.

The Church’s influence was further consolidated in the decades that followed, including through the country’s Constitution, which recognized its “outstanding role” in Georgia’s history and affirmed its independence from the state. 

The 2002 Constitutional Agreement, often referred to as the “Concordat,” grants the Church a range of benefits, including legal immunity for the Patriarch, tax exemptions, and preferential terms in the transfer or acquisition of state property. 

It also recognizes a commitment by the state to pay compensation for damages suffered by the Church under Soviet rule.

During the past decades, however, the Church has faced repeated controversies.

These included the Church’s stance on the rights of women and LGBTQI+ groups, notably the May 2013 violence and the introduction of “Family Purity Day”; the so-called “cyanide” case, in which a priest was arrested on allegations of plotting to murder the Patriarch’s assistant; the 2021 leaks suggesting state surveillance of the clergy; and a controversy related to children’s rights at the Church-run Ninotsminda orphanage.

Foreign policy attitudes have drawn further scrutiny, particularly persistent questions about relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. 

The Patriarch’s repeated visits to Moscow took place amid parallel trips by senior clergymen to the United States. 

While the Patriarch has openly endorsed Georgia’s path toward EU integration, the Church has also voiced opposition to certain policies associated with Brussels, including EU concerns over LGBTQ rights in Georgia.

In the late 2000s, the Patriarch called for the restoration of a constitutional monarchy in Georgia and went on to endorse a marriage between two royal descendants. These efforts, however, ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Over the past years, the church has also openly backed the policies of the ruling Georgian Dream party amid its increasingly conservative, anti-democratic drifts, including those related to proposals to curb activities of civil society groups and the queer community. 

In 2024, however, high-ranking clerics turned down the ruling party’s campaign proposal to make Orthodox Christianity a state religion, making clear that the Church was content with existing privileges.

What Now?

Under the Church’s Statute of Administration adopted in 1995, a new Patriarch is elected by an extended church assembly from three candidates nominated by the Holy Synod, no sooner than 40 days and no later than two months after the Patriarch’s passing. 

While the extended assembly includes both clerical and lay delegates, only Church hierarchs participate in the vote to elect the Catholicos-Patriarch. 

A candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes is elected Patriarch. If none of the candidates secures the required majority, runoff rounds are held.

The new Patriarch must be “Georgian by nationality,” between 40 and 70 years of age, a hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, possess a theological education and sufficient experience in church governance, and be a monk.

Pope Leo: Church in Amazonia must be sign of unity in diversity

Pope Leo XIV sent a video message on Tuesday to the 6th Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazonia (CEAMA), taking place in Bogota, Colombia.

He thanked the Bishops, clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful for attending this “privileged time of listening to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the path of the communities rooted in that region.”

Recalling people’s material and spiritual struggles in the Amazonia, the Pope expressed his closeness to all those whom the Church accompanies.

He encouraged the ecclesial assembly in its mission to formulate Synodal Pastoral Horizons to guide local Churches forward.

Pope Leo drew on the image of the shihuahuaco tree (Dipteryx micrantha), which grows very slowly but stands dozens of meters tall, can live over a thousand years, and creates an ecosystem for animal life.

“This can help us understand,” he said, “what the Church desires to be: a sign of unity in diversity and a safe refuge that generates and protects life.”

The Pope invited the Church in the Amazonia to keep its faith rooted in Christ and in His love, which the faithful should frequently contemplate in prayer.

“The present context requires an adequate response to the many social, environmental, cultural, and ecclesial challenges that persist in the Amazon, threatened by situations of abuse and exploitation,” he said.

In the midst of challenges, the Church must proclaim the kerygma and the new life in Christ, as she accompanies those who suffer and seeks to safeguard creation and respect life in all its forms, especially human life.

Pope Leo upheld the importance of inculturating the Gospel in local cultures, so as to manifest and celebrate the mystery of Christ more fully.

“Inculturation is a difficult but necessary path,” he said. “‘We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit, who is always capable of creating something new from the inexhaustible treasure of Jesus Christ’,” he added, quoting Querida Amazonia.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics in the Amazon Region to strengthen their identity as missionary disciples of Christ.

“Keep sowing in the furrow that has been watered even with the blood of so many men and women who have gone before you, and who, united to the passion of Christ, have become the root of a ‘giant tree’ growing in the Amazonia.”

Bishop's youth thesis is not rooted in reality (Opinion)

There has been some media reaction to a recent comment made by Bishop Niall Coll of Raphoe diocese (that’s Donegal, mainly). 

Until recently Bishop Niall was bishop of Ossory (Kilkenny, mainly) and he was moved back to his native diocese to facilitate the impending merger of Ossory and Ferns (Wexford, mainly).

Bishop Coll was speaking at the launch of a book entitled Transformative Renewal in the Catholic Church by a Catholic theologian John O’Brien - and the bishop had some unusual and unexpected comments to make on young people and on the implications of their changing attitudes to religion to which he attached some significance and, I would suggest, to which he attributed unwarranted credence.

Cynics and the world weary might smile patronisingly at any suggestion that the consistently varying opinions of young people deserved such attention as the young almost by definition can change their minds from Tuesdays to Thursdays. 

But, in this enlightened age when attentive listening and respecting the views of all the baptised are now central to present church reforms, such a ritual dismissal is now unacceptable – and rightly so.

The following, as I understand it, is Bishop Coll’s thesis. First, young people in Ireland today, he said – those born after 1995 (those under 30 now) who have been dubbed ‘the I-Generation’ – are seeking from the Catholic Church what he called ‘clarity, coherence and tradition’ rather than wanting the Church to adapt to the modern world as Church reformers are currently suggesting. 

Second, there are groups of young people who would like the Church to go back to the past who, he said, want ‘a solid doctrinal foundation rather than a Church that adapts to modern culture’.

I was surprised both at the content and the confidence of Bishop Coll’s thesis as it is the mirror opposite of the given wisdom of our time. Ask anyone who works with and listens to young people today - for example parents, teachers, youth chaplains - as to what young people are saying and who actually hear them explain the kind of Church that they want to belong to and it’s not what Bishop Coll was suggesting. It’s the very opposite.

Young people in my experience - generally but not always - want a very different kind of Church: a Church that’s accepting of life and culture in the modern world; that respects developments in science; and above all that’s open to change and reform. 

Most young people, in my experience, are mesmerised by the Catholic Church’s refusal to accept the equality of the sexes and to reject what seems to them as embarrassing strains of misogyny and the present ritual patriarchal diminishment of women.

But to be fair to Bishop Coll, he believes that ‘the i-Generation’ today are changing their views. 

The problem is that the numbers that are doing so are very small and often these young people are very removed from the perspective of their peers and even sometimes their families. 

Thus, religion and church become places to take refuge from the world rather than where they can source wisdom and courage to engage positively with life.

Many too have been drawn into the web of social media platforms with similar like-minded contemporaries who affirm them in their fears of the world as well as confirm their belief that a traditional church that existed in the past is a far safer, more secure and more authentic place than engaging with the modern world and searching out a faith that speaks to present day life.

Young people often gravitate to other like-minded traditional peer groups - conservatively-inclined bishops, priests and laity - who share the same perspectives and often promote them through strong religious devotions of the past such as Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and youth pilgrimages - with others more technically engaged with religious influencers, podcasts and YouTube videos.

And out of those bubbles can emanate persistent demands for a church out of sync with the vision of the Second Vatican Council and very much in keeping with what Bishop Coll describes above.

It’s not surprising that such groups often feed on one another, are often dominated by evangelical-minded individuals and that an unusual number of them can be found north of the border. 

Though few in number and effectively of fringe influence, they are often quoted as emblematic examples of a gathering conspiracy to inflict a pre-Vatican Two Church on an unsuspecting Church.

Bishop Coll’s apparent suggestion that the present officially church-sponsored campaign to introduce synodality into the Catholic Church be replaced by a hybrid involving a coherence with ‘tradition’ seems, with respect, out of kilter with the reforming focus on the introduction of synodality, in Cardinal Grech’s words, ‘at every level of the Church'.

We’ve had synods about synodality. We’ve an ongoing campaign encouraging priests and people to support it. Pope Francis said it was the only way of being church in the third millennium. 

Pope Leo has agreed and underlined his intention to introduce it. And at present the main focus of the Irish Catholic Church is preparing for a National Synodal Assembly in Meath on October 17 next.

Yet here, it would seem, is Bishop Coll suggesting that Catholic leaders often ‘misread the room’ - in other words implying that they often get it wrong. 

An unusual plinth for a bishop to find himself occupying in our church when no other Irish bishop has to date raised even an eyebrow of doubt in relation to the present synodality campaign.

It seems to me that he’s placing himself on the wrong side of history in seeming to go against the introduction of the reforms of Vatican Two. 

And placing it on very shaky foundations - what a small percentage of young people think - isn’t very convincing.

In particular, Bishop Coll’s proposal ‘integrating synodality with tradition’ in order to satisfy a small minority of young people makes no sense and is probably unimplementable - apart from derailing the synodality project entirely.

We can do better than this.

Missouri pastor suspended after church learns she managed Epstein’s private island

A pastor in Missouri was suspended last week after it was discovered she worked for and managed the private island of late-sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for nearly a year.

On Thursday, Bishop Robert Farr of the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church placed Rev. Stephanie L. Remington on leave, pending a review by the episcopal office.

Remington reportedly worked as Epstein’s administrative assistant and temporary property manager of his private island, Little Saint James, from August 2018 to May 2019. Epstein was arrested just two months later, in July 2019, for sex trafficking crimes, and then died in his cell by alleged suicide in August.

Despite having worked closely with the disgraced financier, Remington told United Methodist (UM) News that she never saw Epstein or anyone commit abuse on the island. However, she did admit that when she accepted the job she knew Epstein was a registered sex offender who had served 18 months for the conviction.

Despite having worked closely with the disgraced financier, Remington told United Methodist (UM) News that she never saw Epstein or anyone commit abuse on the island. However, she did admit that when she accepted the job she knew Epstein was a registered sex offender who had served 18 months for the conviction.

“I never saw anything,” Remington told the publication. “I knew him for the last nine months of his life, well after he served time for the things that he was accused of doing.”

It was later discovered that her name appears in approximately 1,800 documents of the Epstein files on the Department of Justice website. Many of the files are emails that discuss her “day-to-day” work operations, UM News reported.

At this time, Remington has not been accused of any crime, and her suspension is temporary (90 days).

Church leaders reported they were only recently made aware of Remington’s ties to Epstein and did not know of her previous employment.

“The Missouri Conference had no knowledge of the individual’s association with Mr. Epstein. Clergy serving in extension ministry operate outside a local church appointment and report their ministry setting through annual paperwork submitted to the Conference,” the Missouri Conference said.

“No information indicating this association was disclosed in any of those reports. The Bishop or district superintendent were not contacted about the individual’s interest in or acceptance of the Epstein-related position.”

Before working for Epstein, Remington served as a pastor and associate pastor at several churches across Missouri from 2001 to about 2018.

Her employment history includes two churches in the Kansas City metro: the First United Methodist Church in North Kansas City and the Summit United Methodist Church in Lee’s Summit.

According to the Missouri Conference, though, Remington claimed in her annual paperwork that she had performed extension ministry through the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary during the time she worked for Epstein, and as recently as 2025.

However, as part of the early review process, it was discovered that Remington had not worked for the Wesley Theological Seminary for all the years she claimed, having been appointed as a part-time contractor in only 2017 and 2018.

This alleged false documentation, in congruence with the Epstein ties, led the Missouri Conference to issue the suspension.

“Clergy are called to uphold the highest standards of spiritual and moral leadership. Concerns of this nature are taken seriously and require careful review,” the Missouri Conference said. “We recognize the deep harm connected to Mr. Epstein’s crimes and remain in prayer for survivors who deserve healing and justice.”

‘A strange line to stand on’ — President raises eyebrows with St Patrick’s Day address

President Catherine Connolly has been criticised for failing to use the word ‘Saint’ four times when referencing St Patrick in her maiden speech marking Ireland’s national holiday.

The speech was viewed millions of times on social media and was criticised by some at home and abroad.

Fr PJ Hughes, of Dromard parish in Co. Longford, claimed that too many public figures ‘fail to see our real culture’ and are disrespectful to St Patrick’s story.

He said: ‘It’s always referred to as St Patrick. That is out of respect for those in the faith.

‘If you want to know anything about St Patrick, we believe his confession – the Confessio – where he recorded his faith in God and how God brought him here and helped him through every situation. It is in the confessions that the people did abuse him when he spoke and that he was challenged. So, nothing has changed.’

Fr Hughes said that there are ‘always people’ who are unsure if they are inside the faith, particularly in the political sphere.

‘Maybe, people who call St Patrick, Patrick, don’t want to be committed to one side or other. They won’t commit,’ he said.

‘They’ve this strange thing that they are afraid of offending people, but they don’t mind offending God. It’s a strange line to stand on. That’s public figures.’

The priest, who came to national attention after being fined for continuing to celebrate Mass during the Covid-19 pandemic, reminded elected politicians that God appoints those to ‘higher authority’.

‘It’s from God they get their wisdom and how they do their work,’ he said.

In her first speech to mark the celebration of St Patrick’s Day, President Connolly used the story of Ireland’s patron saint to remind the public of the ‘resilience and courage of migrants’.

The President referred to St Patrick as ‘Patrick’ on four occasions.

‘As we gather together to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, it is appropriate that we recall the foundational story upon which our National Day is based,’ she said.

‘Patrick was trafficked across the Irish Sea from Britain as a young man in the 5th century, only to return to Ireland as a missionary, giving voice and life to fostering an awareness of the consequences of slavery.

‘The story of Patrick’s life serves as a reminder of the resilience and courage of migrants, the invaluable contributions that they have made and continue to make to the countries they now call home, sometimes even in the face of great adversity. Patrick’s story speaks not only to the Ireland of the fifth century, but to the millions still subjected to trafficking, forced labour and displacement today.’

President Connolly, who attended the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin yesterday with her husband Brian, added that the story of the patron saint’s journey to Ireland ‘invites us to respond with hospitality and kindness to those suffering the consequences of war and displacement’ who arrive here today.

Áras an Uachtaráin did not respond to queries on why it was decided to refer to St Patrick as Patrick throughout the speech.

Available speeches from former President Michael D Higgins, published on the official website, show the former President consistently referred to the patron saint as St Patrick each year.

Like President Connolly, former President Mary McAleese made references to both St Patrick and Patrick in her St Patrick’s Day speeches.

Independent senator Rónán Mullen said that he sees no problem with the use of the name Patrick, which he said was not offensive to him as a man of Catholic faith. ‘As long as she didn’t call him Paddy, I’m happy enough,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t strike my ears as offensive.’

He added: ‘President Connolly always strikes me as someone who is very respectful of religious constituencies.

‘I don’t take offence at her choosing to say Patrick, instead of St Patrick.’

President Connolly was the subject of online criticisms, including from US right-wing broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

He labelled her ‘Ireland’s new communist President’ on social media site X, adding: ‘She calls SAINT Patrick, Patrick four times. In turn ignoring Ireland’s Catholic historical traditions.’

Priest arrested for Walmart theft was under investigation for selling cathedral relics

An Episcopal priest who was the dean of a historic cathedral in Pittsburgh has resigned after stealing baseball cards from Walmart, at the same time he was under investigation for selling artifacts such as a silver chalice from the cathedral.

Dean Aidan Smith, 42, who had been on the staff of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh since 2019, has resigned as dean since his Feb. 27 arrest, when he was caught leaving Walmart with 27 packs of baseball cards hidden under his clothing.

He was held in jail overnight and released after posting $50,000 bail.

“Aidan has tendered his resignation as dean, and I have accepted it,” wrote Bishop Ketlen A. Solak, head of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in a statement released March 14.

“Aidan was placed on administrative leave in late January,” Solak wrote. “This leave was prompted by an ongoing investigation into questions we received at the end of December and beginning of January suggesting that he may have failed to safeguard the property of the church.”

Smith had been under investigation by the diocese for possibly selling valuable artifacts belonging to the cathedral.

“For a number of weeks, we have been looking into whether Aidan improperly sold artifacts belonging to the cathedral through online platforms,” Solak wrote.

The eBay account linked to Smith’s home address drew the attention of church archives professionals, according to The Living Church. 

In November 2025, a sterling silver tea set that had been used in the cathedral for a century went on sale for more than $2,000. A silver holy water cruet and a chalice made by Tiffany & Co. in 1881 were also up for sale for $489.

Among the items sold on eBay were a memorial service program for a 1912 service held at Trinity for victims of the Titanic, sold for $406; a signed letter by Union General George Meade from 1872 sold for $499; and a 1908 invitation from King Edward VII of England to the Rt. Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead, the second Bishop of Pittsburgh, which sold for $175.

Bishop Solak said that Title IV charges, the church’s process for addressing clergy misconduct, were formally initiated against Smith, and he is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

“While the civic charges related to Aidan’s arrest for retail theft are entirely separate from allegations that he failed to safeguard church property, the two matters will proceed as one Title IV case,” Solak wrote.

“Please continue to pray for Aidan, his family, and for everyone impacted by these events,” Solak said.

Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse of boy in rural Manitoba in late 1980s

A now-dead Catholic priest is accused of repeated sexual abuse of a boy in a rural Manitoba community in a lawsuit filed in the Court of King's Bench in Winnipeg.

A statement of claim was filed March 6 against the estate of Father Eugene Verhulst and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg.

The 47-year-old plaintiff alleges in the statement of claim that he endured inappropriate touching by Verhulst and was made to perform oral and anal sex from approximately age 10 to 12.

The alleged abuse happened in various places, including the back room of Ste-Claire's Church in San Clara, a community about 30 kilometres north of Roblin, near the Saskatchewan border.

While getting ready for mass, Verhulst would make the boy sit on his knee so he could fix his hair, then rub his leg and crotch, the lawsuit claims.

In his study, Verhulst called the boy around the desk to show him how to draw the church bell. He sat the boy on his knee and fondled the boy's penis, then had the boy touch his, the claim says.

On multiple occasions, during overnight trips to church in Roblin, Verhulst would wake the boy up and take him to his room. There, Verhulst would bathe the boy, touch him, and make him engage in sex, the lawsuit claims.

When the boy was reluctant, Verhulst became angry and scared him into doing it, the claim says. Verhulst later told the boy it was OK to do it because some of the older boys — whom the younger boy looked up to — liked to do it, too, it says.

Once, while driving from Roblin to San Clara, Verhulst stopped the car and took the boy for a walk to a bush where he made the boy perform oral sex, the court document says. They boy felt angry, embarrassed, isolated and alone and didn't want to get back into the car, so Verhulst started driving away, while the boy ran behind, the claim says.

Verhulst "wrongfully and intentionally sexually, emotionally and mentally abused and traumatized the plaintiff," the claim says.

His conduct was "malicious and was done with the knowledge that it would cause the plaintiff humiliation, indignity, physical and emotional harm and mental distress and injury," the claim says.

The archdiocese failed to act and protect the boy when it knew or ought to have known or was wilfully blind to the abuse, the claim says, making the archdiocese vicariously liable for the abuse.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. A statement of defence has yet to be filed.

The archdiocese of Winnipeg declined comment on the case because it is before the courts.

As a result of the alleged abuse, the plaintiff suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorder, struggles to trust and be intimate with others, suffers periods of frustration, uncontrollable anger and impulsivity and lacks self-worth and self-esteem, the lawsuit claims.

"As a result of the negligence of the [archdiocese], the plaintiff suffered and will continue to suffer loss of enjoyment of life and special damages, including but not limited to medical expenses, and will continue to require therapy and medical attention," the claim says.

The man, who now lives in B.C., is seeking general damages, special damages, punitive damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages and damages for breach of fiduciary duty.