Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.
Monday, April 21, 2025
Pope Francis has died, the Vatican says
Pope Francis has died aged 88, the Vatican says
He died at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican news service says
"His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church," Cardinal Farrell says
His death comes a day after he appeared in St Peter's Square to wish "Happy Easter" to thousands of worshippers
Vatican announces Pope Francis' death - statement in full
A short while ago, His Eminence, Cardinal Farrell, announced with sorrow the death of Pope Francis, with these words: “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.
Quote Message
At 7:35 this morning (local time), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church."
"He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised."
Farrell adds: "With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”
Vatican statement
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.
Pope Francis dies aged 88
Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican has announced.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to lead the Catholic Church in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stood down.
Sunday, April 20, 2025
Priest speaks of ‘shame’ and ‘hurt’ at Easter mass after curate charged with child sex offence
A priest has spoken of his alarm after the “unnerving” arrest of a clerical colleague over an alleged child sex offence.
Father Michael McCaughey thanked parishioners in Clonleigh for their “spirit of kindness and solidarity” in the days since Fr Edward Gallagher was arrested and then charged.
He addressed the matter at Easter Sunday mass this morning.
Gallagher (58) appeared via videolink at a court sitting in Dungannon on Saturday, where he was charged that between April 2 and April 17 he attempted to sexually communicate with a child under 16.
In a widely-circulated video, Gallagher is seen being approached and challenged by a group of so-called paedophile hunters.
Gallagher works as a curate in the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes.
Since his arrest, he has been suspended from ministry by the Diocese of Derry, which has commenced an internal investigation.
The Easter Sunday Mass at St Patrick’s Church in Clonleigh parish, Lifford, was taken by Fr McCaughey this morning.
Towards the end of the mass, after the liturgy of the Eucharist, Fr McCaughey asked the congregation to sit, while he spoke about the “very difficult few days” for the parish.
He read out a statement from the Diocese of Derry, reiterating Fr Gallagher’s arrest and charge.
Fr McCaughey then spoke on “a personal level and a local level” on behalf of himself and parish priest Fr Declan Boland.
“We acknowledge the pain, the hurt, the disappointment of the past 48 or 72 hours. This is difficult, this is alarming, this is unnerving, this is disturbing,” he told parishioners.
He added: “This is so disturbing for people and parishioners of all ages, and it is so difficult for priests. I can say that very honestly.
“I left the back door of the church in Strabane this morning to begin the quarter to ten mass, it struck me of what a few days it has been, Holy Thursday afternoon to this morning.
“It’s been remarkable, the spirit of support and of kindness, of solidarity and care of yourselves.
“I have to say personally, it has been a privilege to be here for mass on Holy Thursday, on Good Friday, and to celebrate a Vigil Mass here last night - a remarkable sense of the spirit of kindness and of care and of solidarity.
“I just want to assure you of my prayers this morning, and I assure you of our sense of journeying together as a parish community in acknowledging, on both of our parts, the shame, the hurt, the disappointment that people have been experiencing at this time.
“Above all, I just want to say thank you for the presence of those people here last night, today and through the days past.”
Fr McCaughey wished parishioners a happy Easter and thanked those who took part in the service.
None of the alleged background facts were opened when Gallagher appeared in court via videolink on Saturday.
Defence lawyer Stephen Chapman said no application was being made for bail.
He asked that his client be remanded in custody until May 1.
Asked why, he told District Judge Steven Keown: “At the moment there is an issue over addresses, and we’re in conversation with the police over that and there may be a resolution to that over the next week to 10 days. So the next available videolink court that should be suitable will be May 1.”
Mr Chapman also made an application for legal aid for his client.
“He would have been in receipt of a modest stipend - the circumstances of the case are such that that will obviously cease,” he added.
The case was adjourned to May 1.
On Saturday, the diocese confirmed Gallagher has been suspended from ministry.
It said: “The Diocese of Derry is aware that Fr Edward Gallagher has appeared in court in relation to serious charges of a sexual nature in relation to attempted sexual communication with a child.
“The diocese takes such matters very seriously and as such has, in addition, commenced its own internal investigation, which will only take place in a manner which does not impede the criminal investigation. Fr Gallagher is suspended from ministry.
“As charges are now before a court, it would not be appropriate for the diocese to comment further until the completion of the criminal proceedings.
“If anyone has any allegations or concerns regarding child abuse, they should contact the PSNI and Social Services in Northern Ireland, or An Garda Síochána and Tusla in the Republic of Ireland.
“In addition, contact for diocesan safeguarding can be found on the diocesan website (derrydiocese.org) or on posters in churches within the diocese.”
Gallagher is a former parish priest at Moville in Co Donegal, and Greencastle and Badoney Lower in Co Tyrone.
According to his social media page, he has also served as curate in the parish of Limavady, in Cappagh in Co Tyrone and Holy Family in Derry.
He is also a former administrator at Long Tower Parish, Derry, and a former associate pastor and pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in the city.
The diocese serves the Catholic congregation of 51 parishes across almost all of Co Londonderry, parts of Co Tyrone and Co Donegal, and a small area across the River Bann in Co Antrim.
Pope says 'no peace without freedom of religion' at Easter balcony appearance amid illness
POPE FRANCIS APPEARED in front of thousands of Catholic faithful at St Peter’s Square today for Easter, despite the 88-year-old pontiff’s frail health that has kept him from most Holy Week events.
“Happy Easter,” said the Argentine pontiff in a weak voice from his wheelchair at the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, to the delight of tens of thousands of faithful and others in the flower-filled square.
The pope traditionally delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) benediction from the balcony that overlooks St Peter’s Square, but he gave that task to a collaborator Sunday.
His address, read out, condemned “worrisome” anti-Semitism, and the “deplorable” situation in Gaza.
Given his delicate health following treatment for pneumonia, it had not been certain whether the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics would be present, or if so, in what capacity.
In the end, the pope made his appearance.
Just beforehand, he had a brief private meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome with his family.
“The meeting, which lasted a few minutes, gave the opportunity to exchange greetings on Easter Sunday,” wrote the Vatican in a brief statement, saying the encounter took place at the pope’s residence shortly before 11:30am local time (10:30 Irish time).
Their meeting came months after a spat between Francis and the administration of US President Donald Trump over its anti-migrant policies.
A crowd of 35,000
The Holy See’s press service had not confirmed whether the pope would participate in Sunday’s Easter celebrations, insisting it depended on his health.
That did not stop what the Vatican said was a crowd of some 35,000 people from gathering Sunday under hazy skies in the plaza decorated with tulips and other spring flowers in front of St Peter’s Basilica, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit pope.
Marie Manda, 59, from Cameroon, was one of those thinking positively.
“Of course we hope to see the pope but if he’s not here and he’s still suffering we’ll see his representative,” she told AFP.
“But we want to see the pope, even sick we want to see him!”
Indian tourist Rajesh Kumar, 40, said, however, that he had no idea it was Easter when he booked his holiday with his wife.
“After coming here we realised there is a festival going on, the pope is going to give a speech, so we just entered and we are ready for it,” he said.
Francis was released from hospital on 23 March, after five weeks of treatment for pneumonia, from which he nearly died.
His voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing. In the last week, Francis has appeared in public twice without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.
He could delegate the reading of his Easter text — usually a reflection on conflicts and crises around the world — to someone else.
For the first time since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has missed the majority of Holy Week events, such as Friday’s Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday’s Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he delegated his duties to cardinals.
He did, however, make a brief appearance inside the basilica on Saturday, where he prayed and gave candies to some children among the visitors.
Some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests will be present at Sunday’s Easter mass.
Organisers expect even bigger crowds than usual due to the Jubilee, a Holy Year in the Catholic Church which comes around once every quarter of a century and attracts thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City.
Francis performed one official engagement this Holy Week, visiting a jail in Rome, but he did not perform the traditional foot-washing ritual, which seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.
Asked by a journalist after his visit what he felt about this Easter week in his current condition, the pope replied: “I am living it as best I can.”
This year’s Easter is unusual as it falls on the same weekend in both the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which follow the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox branch, which uses the Julian calendar.
US vice president JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday
US vice president JD Vance met Pope Francis briefly on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings, after they got into a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.
Mr Vance’s motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate and parked near Francis’ hotel residence while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St Peter’s Square.
Francis, who has greatly cut back his workload to recover from a near-fatal case of pneumonia, delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.
The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta “to exchange Easter greetings”. Mr Vance’s office said that they met, but provided no further details.
Mr Vance’s motorcade was on Vatican territory for 17 minutes.
Mr Vance and the pope have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy.
Just days before he was admitted to hospital in February, Francis criticised the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.
In a letter to US bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Mr Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views.
In February at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Mr Vance did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know”.
Mr Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Saturday.
Mr Vance’s office said he and Cardinal Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace”.
The Vatican, for its part, said there was an “exchange of opinions” including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Easter 2025 - Bishop Colton
When I’m asked what I do in my spare time – such as it is – reading is there, and lots of books, and prioritised among them, like many clergy it seems, either non-fiction or – crime novels and whodunnits. It is probably well known that I enjoy watching sports – soccer, rugby, hockey and cricket; not golf, I’m ashamed to admit this week. Planes, trains and photography are in there too, as are my love of music and theatre; but perhaps less well-known is my love of ballet. I find ballet very therapeutic; it doesn’t require a lot of energetic or active engagement from the spectator – music and movement coincide. At the end of most days I will unwind with even a few minutes watching some ballet.
Not so long ago Susan and I went to Covent Garden in London – where we are friends of the Royal Opera House – to see the Royal Ballet. We had chosen specifically to witness the tantalising Argentine Principal Dancer Marianela Nuñez and her partner Principal Dancer, Russian, Vadim Muntagirov. It has been an ambition to see them on stage live and we stood for ages at the stage door afterwards in the freezing cold just to see one of them in person. I had read Muntagirov’s autobiography – Small steps to big leaps – and, on Instagram, he had kindly offered to sign it.
He’s a perfectionist and it shows. His is an amazing story of winning awards, and also poignant. At the age of 16, having won the Prix de Lausanne he arrived in London with no English. He rose up through the ranks of the English National Ballet and then the Royal Ballet. Why poignant? Well I found it poignant that, because of the geopolitical situation, it wasn’t until July 2023, that he ever managed to dance live in front of his father and mother and his sister.
Why do I tell you all this? Well it was his birthday on Wednesday and I happened to see him – again on Instagram – being interviewed and he said something simple yet profound that struck a chord in the midst of Holy Week. He said this – ‘I try to live the story when I am on the stage’. ‘I try to live the story when I am on the stage’. His is an immersive approach. It is more than the technical steps. It goes beyond technique to expressing the story through movement and acting – the anger and heartbreak, for example, in his recent portrayal of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
As I say this struck a chord, because it seems to me that year by year, as Christians, in the cycle of things Holy Week becomes a stage in which we are all invited and drawn in to live again and again the entire story of the last days in the life of Jesus, our Saviour. Ballet dancers often say how painful and stressful the dance can be on their bodies – and there are frequent injuries – they are among the world’s fittest athletes, these artists. In the same way, Holy Week and Easter make extraordinary demands on those who preside at the liturgies, on musicians and choirs, on readers and on the whole parish setup. We are all grateful to them. However, we too are asked to go out of our way every year to make Holy Week entirely different from the rest of the year – even to the point of inconvenience and extra effort.
But, as Vadim Muntarigov says of his performances, Holy Week is all about the story – reliving it, inhabiting it, immersing ourselves in it to the point of going through the emotions of it. And when we do so, we discover how much and how intensely these last days in Jesus’ life, reflected in the liturgies of each day, embrace and beyond the full scope of our own human predicament and vulnerability.
This is a story that was 33 years in the making – like so many hopes and ambitions in our own lives – the long haul. And last Sunday a donkey, of all things, is borrowed, and Jesus rides into Jerusalem and is greeted as a hero with joy, love and affection … a hero’s welcome to shouts of Hosanna! It all started out so well, but very quickly it fell apart – things unravelled. This can happen to us too.
Almost every emotion we can go through in life is brought to the fore in the experience of Jesus in this Great Week: the joy of dinner in the safety of friends’ home – Mary, Martha and Lazarus; the envy and jealous bitterness of Judas as an onlooker when he saw that very extravagant gift of perfume; the people plotting, conniving and scheming against Jesus; arguments about who was the greatest and who should be in charge; Jesus trying to keep things on track with some good advice and final instructions; Jesus – preoccupied and bewildered, teetering on the brink of a lack of resolve and failure, questioning the meaning and point of it all; and knowing deep down that one of his closest friends was going to turn on him and betray him; a last and very powerful meal together; trying to get away from it all by seeking the peace and solitude on the Mount of Olives; friends promising they wouldn’t let him down but then they do; they fall asleep, it’s all too much for them; lots of prayer, especially in Gethsemane where Jesus wishes it all away and feels tormented. He is betrayed, arrested, toyed with, tortured, and friends pretend not to know him. There are false accusations and despair, and the feeling that God has abandoned him. There’s not just one but several trials and people washing their hands of responsibility. He is mocked and paraded in front of the same crowd. ‘ You’re only as good as your last act’, they say. He is eventually executed and around that cross, there is love, devotion, terror, trust, indifference, exploitation, self-sacrifice, sneering, ridicule and derision – and above all else, immense pain and suffering. He is buried in a hurry as an expediency. Isn’t this almost the totality of our own human experience too?
I am challenged to think of a human emotion that is not in that story and journey. On Friday there was darkness and desolation – a world that had fallen apart for those who had invested so much in that man, Jesus. It appeared to be a day of complete and forlorn failure. Yesterday was a day of empty waiting and not knowing. Waiting – hanging around – not knowing – like so much of life that we find hard to cope with.
And that brings us to today – early morning – the women trying to do the decent thing as soon as possible – faced with the totally unexpected. Not knowing how to handle it. They are perplexed, we are told, and terrified by whatever experience they had.. Not long afterwards, Peter came too, and he was amazed. But his response was very strange – he just headed home. Very odd. So it is alright to come to Church on Easter Day ‘perplexed’. That is part of faith too – or amazed. This is how it was explained to them by the messengers:
‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ (Luke 24.5b-7)
What we have here too in these short affirmations about the Easter faith seems very close to what Peter preached – we heard it in Acts – our first reading today – the earliest preaching of the Church:
‘You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,…’
That’s the kernel of our faith that gives us joy and hope today. Holy Week and Easter invite us to live the story and, to see in this story, not only the story of Jesus and those who were there, but our own story and emotions on our life journey too. And we are invited to come today at this healing high point of the story and to discover here the solidarity, love, joy and grace of God’s love for us.
That is what empowers and enables us to proclaim ‘Christ is risen!’
Easter Homily 2025 - Galway & Clonfert
“Christ is risen!” … “He is risen, indeed!” – Bishop Michael celebrates Mass of Easter Sunday at St Brendan’s Cathedra, Loughrea.
Good afternoon! Later, I probably would say Good Evening! and you might reply Good Evening to you too! These are all rather formal greeting phrases. There are informal ones too. In Dublin you might hear “Story!”. In Cork, “Howya boy!” or in Belfast, “How’s about ya!” Around here, perhaps “How’s it going?” To each of these greetings there are a variety of responses “I’m good!” “Great!” “Grand!” “Mighty!” “Struggling!
I am not sure if you are aware of it or not but there is special Easter greeting that Christians have used for centuries. The greeting is “Christ is risen!” The response is “He is risen, indeed!” It is still quite commonly used in Eastern Europe during the eight days after Easter Sunday. In Ireland, I suspect its use would be met with a blank stare and the suggestion that you were somewhat overly religious. However, I like this ancient Easter Greeting. In its simplicity, I think it has a lot to teach us. Let’s try it. I say, “Christ is risen!” you respond, “He is risen, indeed!” “Christ is risen!” … “He is risen, indeed!” This Easter Greeting is both a proclamation of fact “Jesus is risen!” and an acclamation of faith “He is risen, indeed!”
As a proclamation of fact – it calls to mind that first Holy Week well over two thousand years ago. Jesus must have had an extraordinary effect on those who encountered him. He was someone who not only brought them close to God but also someone who gave their lives a meaning and a purpose. Their world was turned upside down by his arrest and condemnation as a common criminal to the blood barbarity of crucifixion. Many of them fled, suspecting that they were next. For those that stayed, they gave him a hasty burial in a borrowed tomb not far from Calvery.
As soon as they could, some of the heartbroken women among the group returned to the tomb to complete the customary funeral rituals. The stone was rolled away – the tomb was empty, the grave clothes folded up. Mysterious messengers told them: “He is not here. He is risen. He has gone before you home to Galilee.” In the days to follow, many of his closest friends and many others would testify that they had met and spoken with that same Jesus who had died and was buried. He was now transformed, present and alive in their midst. They struggled to find words to express the depth of what they had experienced. Their downhearted doubt and darkness had been replaced by exuberant hope.
Fear that they might meet the same fate as Jesus had been transformed into an almost foolhardy urge to tell everyone what they had experienced, no matter what the consequences. In due course, all of the twelve apostles, bar one, were to die the deaths of Martyrs rather than deny what they had experienced. For the early Christians –the resurrection of Jesus had become his defining hour. It showed forth what they had failed to understand for so long. That in Jesus and through Jesus, God himself had definitively entered our world on the side of light rather than darkness, of hope rather than despair – on the side of life rather than death. For them the proclamation of fact that “Christ had risen!” had become an acclamation of faith. They believed with every fibre of their being that “he had risen indeed!”
This Easter Morning as we hear once again the story of the Resurrection of Jesus proclaimed as fact let us renew our faith in the risen Christ. He is alive today and present among us. Let us bring to him those dark areas of our world, our families and our lives that need the transforming presence of God at this time. Today, I think of the indescribable suffering of the martyred people of Gaza, the battered people of Ukraine, the death and destruction wrought in South Sudan and every war-torn and famine ravaged region of our world. I think of displaced peoples of migrants and refugees. I think of those who find life tough going at this time, those who are plagued by illness, loneliness, addiction or depression. Those who are poor, homeless, lost in life. Those who have gone down dark roads, broken trust, hurt others or who have been hurt themselves. I think of those who live in fear, uncertainty and crippling anxiety – those who feel unloved, unwanted and who are plagued by dark thoughts. I think of those who mourn the loss of loved ones.
Although at times, it may be difficult to fully grasp and even accept, the message of Easter, the message is the same as it has been since the beginning. God himself stands with those who find themselves in darkness. Into that darkness, no matter how deep it may be, he will ultimately bring light and transformation and new life if not in this world certainly in the next. This is the hope that springs forth at the heart of Easter. This is the hope that an often-weary world longs to hear and it is this hope that today we so rightly rejoice on this Easter morn.
In continuity with the ancient tradition of that Easter Greeting, let us not be afraid to proclaim this hope and to respond in faith. For “Christ is risen!” … “He is risen, indeed!” “Christ is risen!” “He is risen, indeed!” “Christ is risen!” “He is risen, indeed!” Amen
Easter 2025 - Archbishop Jackson
Easter Message 2025 from the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson
… a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise … psalm 51.17
Easter 2025 is celebrated in the Christian tradition across a world that is in turmoil and in tears. Each of you can choose your own location, shut your own eyes and picture the suffering of women, men and children, younger and older, without distinction of creed or class and always without respite. The picture may settle before you, or it may grow more intense. This is our world as we have made it today.
The church liturgically and prayerfully has come through a week which it continues to call holy, rooted in Holy Scripture. Its holiness is populated by exuberance and fulfilment, disillusion and betrayal, suffering and death, confusion and now, all of a sudden, resurrection. There is a lot to assimilate. The events are too powerful and too immediate for our tired religious imaginations. Yet resurrection is God’s gift to us on Easter Day when holiness and joy combine forces and reset our agendas.
Christmas and Easter offer us different dimensions of happiness. Happy …, after all, is our greeting to one another on both days. Both speak of life. Christmas speaks of new birth. Easter adds the chasm of death to the human experience, mirroring, in this, further glimpses of the divine reality. Happiness is the journey which God’s church has today taken as we exit Lent and Holy Week on the day of resurrection. It is this kaleidoscope of light and darkness that gives us the materials of a new picture which remains work in progress but has, at the same time, become a living possibility.
What is it? And how are we to share it with a disinterested world? We are to start small and to start sincere. We are to continue strong and to share generously. We are to identify with the people we do not know or understand. We are to let ourselves be tested in the encounters that will be sprung upon us. We are to let God talk through us much more than we are to talk about God. We are to avoid talking up the best in ourselves and talking down the best in other people. In ways like this, the light of Christ will show itself in the post-resurrection world of today as a force of compassion in a world of wounds.
I wish you all Happy Easter and joy in being the new creation in Christ that you truly are.
+Michael Dublin and Glendalough
‘Many are delighted to see a lay person present’: Growing numbers of laity helping out with ministry in Catholic churches
“The traditional approach to religious practice doesn’t suit everyone,” says Patricia Melvin, a member the Co Mayo parish of Crossmolina.
Ms Melvin is among an increasing number of lay Catholics taking part in masses and other liturgies across the country.
They take part as readers, ministers of the eucharist distributing communion or, due to the absence of a priest, conduct a liturgy of the word. This latter is, essentially, a mass without a consecration, but where communion – consecrated beforehand – is distributed.
For her part, Ms Melvin recently led an Easter prayer walk from the church, through the town and to its graveyard. She last year organised a “Faith Fest” in the parish around St Patrick’s Day, which proved “very popular”.
Ardal O’Hanlon on Father Ted at 30: ‘I thought it was a sh*t idea. Who was going to want to watch a sitcom about priests?’
But it is in the particularly sensitive area of funeral rites that more lay people are becoming evident, though usually in the company of a priest.
Peter McLoughlin has conducted a funeral for a relative in Co Tipperary as the priest was on leave. He “led the prayers alone” at the home and in the graveyard and says no one took a bit of heed of the cleric’s absence.
However, it was different situation in Co Clare, Mr McLoughlin says. That, too, was a funeral for a relative, but he was declined permission to conduct it.
The result was, he says, “horrific” as another priest, who was unable to pronounce the dead man’s Irish name, took the lead.
Mr McLoughlin is a parishioner in Ballina, Co Mayo, where he is a member of the team of lay people helping to conduct funerals there and in nearby Enniscrone, usually in the company of a priest.
“There’s not even a ripple” from mourners at their presence, he says, also saying that many “really appreciate” having someone they know involved.
Anne Sweeney “looks after the rota” for the nine-strong funeral team in Ballina. It helps to conduct up to 120 funerals a year there, with each member involved in “10 to 12″.
She says she finds mourners “most appreciative” of their presence, with many “delighted to see a lay person present”.
They accompany the priest to wakes in a houses or funeral homes and co-lead prayers on the arrival of remains at the church, the final commendation at the end of the mass/liturgy and at the grave.
The team has set up a bereavement support group to help people deal with grief.
Ms Melvin has also assisted at funerals and has found mourners “remarkably positive” about her presence. She has conducted a liturgy of the word four times due to the absence of a priest and says “it went well” in all cases.
Ms Melvin, Mr McLoughlin and Ms Sweeney were among 64 people formally commissioned at St Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina, by Archbishop of Tuam Francis Duffy last Tuesday to help out in Killala diocese.
The 42 women and 22 men had completed a two-year course in theology, culture and ministry at the Newman Institute, Ballina.
When put to Ms Sweeney that they might soon be even be conducting baptisms and officiating at marriages, she says: “We’re on a synodal pathway, not a synodal runway.”
The synodal pathway was initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 as a way of actively involving all baptised people in the life of the church.
Fr Brendan Hoban, spokesman for Killala diocese and co-founder in 2010 of the Association of Catholic Priests, has described it “as effectively Vatican II for slow learners”.
In a recent article in The Irish Times, Fr Hoban wrote that the rapid decline in priest numbers meant “change is beginning to percolate out of sheer necessity as inviolable defences thought to be proofed against reform are coming under siege”.
Killala priests, he says, “stumbled on the concept of synodality” in 2015 at “an annual groupthink wondering what we could do to arrest the obvious decline of the church”.
They spent two years thinking about it before deciding to ask the people in February 2017. This led to the first diocesan assembly in Killala in July 2018. What the people wanted was established and priorities were agreed, with an implementation committee set up in January 2020.
It meant that “now in 2025, exactly 10 years after the priest and Bishop [John Fleming, who retired last year] discussions of 2015, the people have found their voice”, Fr Hoban says.
Killala is one of the smallest diocese in Ireland.
The largest is the Dublin Archdiocese where, spokesman Peter Henry says, “over the past two years lay ministries have been steadily developing, with over 1,000 people participating in education and training in the past year alone”.
Among these are 109 new lay parish catechists, 34 people who will look after youth ministry and 120 people who will assist with funerals. Many others had completed courses “to help adults develop their faith,” he says.
Next month, a Diocesan Pastoral Council will be commissioned by Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell. It has a lay majority and will advise him on pastoral matters.
Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has said “we cannot postpone difficult decisions” in the diocese.
“We urgently need to take serious steps in terms of lay ministry. For instance, at this point, it should normally only be lay people saying prayers in funeral parlours or leading removal ceremonies.”
In a homily last Thursday at the Chrism Mass in St John’s Cathedral, Bishop Leahy said there was a “need to see lay people as members of pastoral unit teams”.
“We already have 24 out of 60 parishes without a resident priest. We have only one native Limerick diocesan priest aged under 50,″ he said, with “one ordination coming up in May”.
In Limerick, he said, they would “possibly have two ordinations in 15 years”.
“I don’t need to spell it out much more,” he said of the need for lay people to participate in the church’s funerals.
Easter Message 2025 - Kildare & Leighlin
Fifteen years is but a twinkling of an eye.
There is a line in Luke’s Easter Vigil gospel that captures this beautifully, as it takes our focus from the grave, from the tombstone: “why look among the dead for someone who is alive?”
Those we love and lose to death are alive in Christ and are alive in our hearts.
The three days of Holy Thursday , Good Friday and Holy Saturday are essentially one liturgy lasting three days. Holy Thursday begins but doesn’t end.
Good Friday picks up the themes but leaves us at Golgotha while on Holy Saturday we wait at a tomb, waiting for the dawn to break, waiting for the tomb to be cracked open.
The Triduum is three days in one. Easter is fifty days in one. Let’s make the most of these fifty days and feel the life of Christ fully alive among us.
I am very conscious of the great work done across all our parishes to unpack the Easter story. I thank priests and people who do so much to make these days special. As the hymn prays:
“Christ is alive, with joy we sing,
We celebrate our risen Lord,
Praising the glory of his name.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
Blessings to all as we celebrate the life of Christ and the life of all we’ve lost to death. Happy Easter!
+Denis
Easter Blessings
EASTER BLESSINGS
"On this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry -- old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling -- and let us have the courage to begin again.
Life is very short, and we are no sooner here than it is time to depart again, and we should use to the full the time that we still have.
We don't realize all the good we can do.
A kind, encouraging word or helping hand can bring many a person through dark valleys in their lives.
We weren't put here to make money or to acquire status or reputation.
We were sent here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously.
May the spirit and light of this Easter morning and the special spirit and light of this abbey at Corcomroe bless us all, watch over us and protect us on our journey, open us from the darkness into the light of peace and hope and transfiguration."
JOHN O'DONOHUE
Dawn Mass Reflections at Corcomroe Abbey
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Easter Vigil Homily - Elphin
“Hope loves what is not yet, but what will be”
Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran at the Easter Vigil Mass in Sligo Cathedral Parish 19th April, 2025
“God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good”.
We heard these words at the end of the first reading this evening. I’m not sure if you have every given any thought to the fact that, six times in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, we are told that God saw what he had done, “and it was good”.
That is a pretty powerful statement about the goodness of creation, and it is rooted in the belief that, since God is good, nothing can come from God that is not good.
Mediaeval philosophers, like St Thomas Aquinas, said that everything, in so far as it exists, is good. To be is to be good. Science helps us to understand that everything in the natural world has its place and its purpose in an ordered universe, even the creepy crawlies and the bacteria and other things that we don’t particularly like.
So what went wrong? The Scriptures tell us that, wherever evil makes its appearance in creation, it happens because the connection with God is broken. It is replaced by pride and selfish ambition, which leads to conflict and destruction.
We we tend to think of scientists as people who change the world. But science is really about discovering the many possibilities built into the natural order. Think of how many scientists are telling us these days that, if we are to save the universe, we need to respect the natural order. There is really no conflict between faith and science.
But what about sickness and death? How do we make sense of the fact that the human body, like every other organism, breaks down. Pope Francis himself has written about this in recent days. “Among the many questions that man has posed throughout history” he says, “one above all has always found an uncertain answer ….that is life beyond death. What will become of man after death? What will become of me?” “We are all aware” he continues “that no one escapes the mystery of death…… The multiple questions that arise from this event cannot but call into question that virtue which, more than any other, allows every man and woman to look beyond the human limit: hope!”
“God saw all that he made and indeed it was very good”. What I find fascinating is that these words, at the beginning of the Bible, were written by people of faith, long after the creation, by which time the goodness of creation was already obscured by sin, just as we see it today. I can’t help thinking that these words are not just a statement of faith.
They are also an expression of the kind of hope, which keeps us going, even in the face of all the odds. It is a hope that, even in the face of death, there is a future, when every tear will be wiped away.
Our Vigil this evening is a celebration of our faith that, from the first days until now, God has never ceased in his effort to renew his creation, beginning with his open invitation to us, human beings, to come back to him with all our hearts. The virtue of faith, as Pope Benedict wrote, is closely connected with the virtue of hope. You could say that hope is faith, asit looks to the future. Because of our faith in the goodness of God, we can look the future with hope.
As you possibly know, the full Easter vigil liturgy has nine readings, but I invite you to think back on the ones we have heard this evening. The psalm which followed the first reading is a celebration of creation, and our response was an appeal to God to send forth his Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
In their time of tribulation, God never forgets his people. Even when the media moves on and when the politicians prevaricate, He is close to the broken hearted. This is expressed inoursecind reading, when God calls the Hebrews out of slavery and reveals himself to them in the wilderness. He forges a new relationship with them, making a covenant with them.
In the reading from Isaiah, once again, we meet a God who wants to nourish us and give us life. In the account of creation, we read, over and over: “God said …. and so it was”. The word of God is a creative word. Now he tells us: “Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live….With you I will make an everlasting covenant”. Then he assures us that “(just), as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.” Words that nourish our hope”.
The Gospel, of course, presents us with the amazing mystery of Jesus who died and is risen, having overcome once and for all the power of sin and death. All we need now is to enter into the mystery, by freely accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
At the beginning of our New Testament reading this evening, St. Paul explains that: “When we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life”. As you probably know, in ancient times, when people were Baptised, they were fully immersed in the water. St Paul saw a certain symbolism in this. Going down into the water was like going into the grave. The point, as far as Paul was concerned was that, in Baptism, we come out of the water, already alive with the new life of the Resurrection. This is why we can live, and even die, with hope in our hearts.
It would not be reasonable or honest, of course, to suggest that, because of hope, all our troubles disappear. Life can sometimes be very difficult and the virtue of hope can, at times, seem very fragile and uncertain.
I mentioned earlier that Pope Francis had written about hope in recent days. He quotes the French writer Charles Péguy, who died in battle during the first world war. Péguy’s best known work is a long poem called “The Portal of Hope”. In it, he says: “Hope is a little girl, nothing at all…. And yet it is this little girl who will endure worlds. This little girl, nothing at all….. She loves what is not yet, but will be. In future time and in eternity.
This image speaks of the little girl speaks to me. I think the celebration of Easter reveals that “little girl” inside each of us and invites us to make space for her to grow. It invites us to nourish that same hope in others, and never to undermine it. Then the “little girl” will not only carry our faith, but she will also give us confidence to love in the knowledge that we ourselves are loved.
Statement from Bishop McKeown
The diocese takes such matters very seriously and as such has, in addition, commenced its own internal investigation, which will only take place in a manner which does not impede the criminal investigation.
Fr Gallagher is suspended from ministry.
As charges are now before a court, it would not be appropriate for the diocese to comment further until the completion of the criminal proceedings.
If anyone has any allegations or concerns regarding child abuse, they should contact the PSNI and Social Services in Northern Ireland, or An Garda Síochána and Tusla in the Republic of Ireland.
In addition, contact for diocesan safeguarding can be found on the diocesan website (derrydiocese.org/safeguarding) or on posters in churches within the diocese.
JD Vance had ‘exchange of opinions’ with senior cardinal, Vatican says
The Vatican issued a statement after Vance, a Catholic convert, met Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. There was no indication he met Pope Francis, who has resumed some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and cuts in international aid, and has called for peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican statement, which said the talks were cordial and that the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.
“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the statement said.
“Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”
The reference to “serene collaboration” appeared to refer to Vance’s accusation that the US conference of Catholic bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to obtain federal funding. Top US cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim.
Parolin told La Repubblica on the eve of Vance’s visit: “It is clear that the approach of the current US administration is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the west, from what we have relied on for many years,.”
As the US pushes to end the war in Ukraine, Parolin reaffirmed Kyiv’s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect”.
Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St Peter’s Basilica after meeting Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. On Saturday, after the Vance family’s introduction to Parolin, they had a private tour of the Sistine Chapel.
It was not immediately clear where they would celebrate Easter. Pope Francis, for his part, according to official liturgical plans released on Saturday, indicated he hoped to attend Easter mass on Sunday, which usually draws thousands to St Peter’s Square.
The pope and Vance have tangled over immigration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport people en masse. Francis has made caring for those who migrate a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative US Catholic church.
The pope also changed church teaching to say that capital punishment was inadmissible in all cases. After a public appeal from Francis just weeks before Trump took office, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row. Trump is an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement that is viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings and often described as “post-liberal”.
Post-liberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. They envision a counter-revolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions such as universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good”.
Just days before the pope was admitted to hospital in February, Francis criticised the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive people of their inherent dignity. In a letter to US bishops, he also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as ordo amoris. He said the concept delineated a hierarchy of care – to family first, followed by neighbour, community, fellow citizens and, last, those elsewhere.
In his 10 February letter, Francis appeared to correct Vance’s understanding of the concept.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the good Samaritan, that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views. During an appearance on 28 February at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Vance did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know”.
Vatican notes ‘exchange of opinions’ with JD Vance over migrants and prisoners
JD Vance has met the Vatican’s number two official amid tensions over the US crackdown on migrants, with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting “an exchange of opinions” over international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.
The Vatican issued a statement after the US vice president, a Catholic convert, met the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
There was no immediate word if Mr Vance stopped to meet Pope Francis, who has been resuming official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over the US crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Francis has also changed church teaching to say capital punishment is immoral and made prison ministry a hallmark of his papacy.
Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican statement which said the talks were cordial and that the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.
“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the statement said.
“Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”
The reference to “serene collaboration” appeared to refer to Mr Vance’s accusation that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to get federal funding. Senior US cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim.
“It is clear that the approach of the current US administration is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the West, from what we have relied on for many years,” Mr Parolin told La Repubblica daily on the eve of Mr Vance’s visit.
As the US pushes to end the war in Ukraine, he reaffirmed Kyiv’s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “is built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect”.
Mr Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services at St Peter’s Basilica after meeting Italian premier Giorgia Meloni.
On Saturday, after introducing his family to Mr Parolin, the Vances had a private tour of the Sistine Chapel.
Francis and Mr Vance have tangled over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative US Catholic Church.
After a public appeal from Francis weeks before Mr Trump took office, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row. Mr Trump is an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment.
In one of his only outings since his near-death hospital admission for pneumonia, Francis this week visited Rome’s central prison to spend Holy Thursday with inmates.
The vice president, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “post-liberal”.
Post-liberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBT+ rights. They envision a counter-revolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting on a vision of the “common good”.
Days before he was admitted to hospital in February, Francis condemned the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.
In a letter to US bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Mr Vance directly for having claimed Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
Mr Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris”.
He has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care — to family first, followed by neighbour, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.
In his February 10 letter, Francis appeared to correct Mr Vance’s understanding of the concept.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote.
“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the Good Samaritan, that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’s criticism but said he would continue to defend his views. During a February 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, he did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there were “things about the faith that I don’t know”.
While he had criticised Francis on social media in the past, recently he has posted prayers for the pontiff’s recovery.
On Friday, Mr Vance, his wife and three young children had front-row seats at the Vatican’s Good Friday service at St Peter’s, a two-hour commemoration featuring Latin and Italian readings. Francis did not attend.
Fr Edward Gallagher remanded in custody over child sex allegation
A Donegal-based priest appeared in court today charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.
Father Edward Gallagher, a curate in the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes and a former parish priest in Moville, is accused of attempting to contact the child on dates between April 2 and April 17 this year.
The 58-year-old priest, whose address was given as Orchard Park, Lifford, was arrested in Derry on Thursday after being confronted by so-called paedophile hunters.
A video of the incident was widely shared online.
Fr Gallagher appeared this morning before a special sitting of Derry Magistrates Court, which was held in Dungannon courthouse.
He joined the hearing by remote link from Waterside police station in Derry.
When asked if he understood the charge against him, Fr Gallagher, who was dressed in a grey tracksuit, replied: “I do”.
A police constable told the court he believed he could connect the accused to the charge.
There was no bail application at today’s hearing and Fr Gallagher’s solicitor, Stephen Chapman, asked for him to be remanded in custody.
Mr Chapman said there was ‘an issue over addresses’ and they were ‘in conversation’ with the police about that.
The solicitor added there ‘may be a resolution’ to the issue around addresses in the ‘next week to ten days’.
Fr Gallagher was remanded in custody to appear via videolink before Derry Magistrates Court on May 1.
Mr Chapman asked for his client to be granted legal aid.
The solicitor said Fr Gallagher would have been in receipt of a ‘modest stipend’, but that due to the circumstances of the case the payment would ‘obviously cease’.
The judge granted a ‘limited certificate’ for legal aid and said a ‘fully informed legal aid application’ could be made at the next hearing.
Fr Gallagher, who is originally from Derry and last year celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination, is currently a curate at the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes.
He moved to the parishes last August, having previously been parish priest in Moville.
From 2015 to 2022, Fr Gallagher was parish priest of the Greencastle and Badoney Lower Parish in Co Tyrone.
He has also served in a number of other parishes in the Derry Diocese, including Limavady, Cappagh, Long Tower and Holy Family.
Lifford priest suspended from ministry after attempted child sex offence
Gallagher was this morning remanded in custody when he appeared before Derry Magistrates Court, sitting in Dungannon.
Last year, he was appointed as curate for the Camus, Clonleigh and Leckpatrick parishes, which include St Patrick’s Church in Murlog, Lifford.
However, the Diocese of Derry has confirmed that the 58-year-old cleric has been suspended.
“The diocese takes such matters very seriously and as such has, in addition, commenced its own internal investigation, which will only take place in a manner which does not impede the criminal investigation,” a spokesperson for the diocese said.
“Fr Gallagher is suspended from ministry. As charges are now before a court, it would not be appropriate for the diocese to comment further until the completion of the criminal proceedings.”
Gallagher was not in his clerical clothing and wore a grey tracksuit when he appeared via video link from the Waterside Police Station.
He is charged that on dates between April 2, 2025 and April 17, 2025 that he attempted sexual communication with a child.
Gallagher spoke only to confirm his date of birth and to say “I do” when asked if he understood the charge against him.
The diocese spokesperson added: “If anyone has any allegations or concerns regarding child abuse, they should contact the PSNI and Social Services in Northern Ireland, or An Garda Síochána and Tusla in the Republic of Ireland.
“In addition, contact for diocesan safeguarding can be found on the diocesan website (derrydiocese.org ) or on posters in churches within the diocese.”
A PSNI constable told Judge Steven Keown that he could connect the accused to the charge.
Barrister for Gallagher, Mr Stephen Chapman BL, instructed by McGeady Molloy Solicitors, said there was no bail application and asked that the court remand his client until May 1.
Mr Chapman said: “At the moment, there is an issue over addresses. We are in conversation with the police about that and there may be a resolution to that in the next 10 days”.
Mr Chapman indicated there will be no bail application on the next date.
He said Gallagher was only “in receipt of modest stipends” which would now “obviously cease” due to the nature of the charge and applied for legal aid.
Legal aid for this appearance was granted and Gallagher was remanded in custody to appear before Derry Magistrates Court on May 1.
Vatican seeks U.S. help in billion-dollar Catholic financial scandal
A meeting this morning between Vance and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, takes place after several high-ranking Vatican officials received detailed correspondence from a lawyer and a human rights organization in Peru outlining alleged financial crimes committed by the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, an once-powerful Catholic entity which has been suppressed and which is now in the process of being liquidated by its Vatican-appointed overseer.
Among other points, the correspondence warned Vatican officials that individuals linked to the sodality have attempted to use a church-state agreement to gain tax breaks on lucrative businesses only to send that money to holding companies in the United States.
Officials who received the letters, which Crux has seen, include Parolin; American Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops; and Italian Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Religious, which was responsible for the suppression of the SCV.
Vance’s visit comes as the Vatican prepares to send United States financial watchdog bodies information regarding allegations of international money laundering and financial fraud on the part of the Peru-based SCV.
Founded in Peru by layman Luis Fernando Figari in 1971, the SCV and its three other branches – two women’s communities and an ecclesial movement – have recently been suppressed by Pope Francis due not only to a litany of alleged abuses, but also widespread allegations of financial crime.
One of the two Vatican officials sent by Pope Francis on a Special Mission to investigate allegations of abuse and financial crimes in 2023, Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, has been named papal commissioner for the liquidation of the group’s assets and the reparation of its victims.
In an interview with Catalan radio station RAC1 Monday, Bertomeu said the Vatican is planning to send, if it hasn’t already, information on alleged financial crimes committed by high-ranking members of the SCV to authorities in the United States.
“The American justice system will focus its attention on this case,” he said, saying, “When you’re dealing with a group that’s not only abusive, but also a mafia group, and not just on a small scale – we’re talking about a billion dollars stolen – the difficulties are greater.”
Bertomeu insisted that “the Vatican has no interest in hiding this plot,” and intends to provide U.S. authorities “with all the relevant information.”
Amid the various accusations of financial wrongdoing against SCV members is abuse of a 1980 concordat, or treaty, governing relations between Peru and the Holy See, which includes tax exemptions for Catholic charities and missions.
Among other things, the SCV is accused of purchasing nine large cemeteries and structuring them as “missions” donated to dioceses, which ensured their tax-exempt status, while maintaining administrative and financial control.
According to experts who have examined the holdings, tax exemptions from the cemeteries’ unusual canonical status as a mission territory generated 30-40 percent more profit and helped the SCV amass a fortune at its height estimated to be worth $1 billion, with much of the funds sent to holding companies first in Panama, and later in Denver, Colorado.
These companies – Providential Inc., Foundation Santa Rosa, the Association for the Promotion of the Apostolate – all now share the same street address as the SCV-run Holy Name parish in Englewood, Colorado.
In a letter dated March 24, 2025, and sent to Parolin, Prevost and Brambilla, Peruvian lawyer José Ugaz noted that despite repeated reform efforts prior to the SCV’s suppression and modest compensation provided to some victims, many “have not received reparations for the abuses suffered by the organization’s directors.”
Ugaz, a member of the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) Council and former chair of the board of Transparency International, noted that most of the SCV’s assets are in private companies and are therefore out of the Vatican’s reach.
These SCV companies are “managed in their personal capacities by members of its leaders’ trusted circle and their representatives. Through a system of front men and proxies, they do not appear formally in the name of the organization or its true owners,” he said.
He referred to the SCV’s cemetery arrangement and accused the bishops of Lurin, Carabayllo, Piura and Callao, where they were located, of “collusion” in the scheme.
Funds from these cemeteries, estimated to be in the millions, have now been transferred to a trust with Acres Investment, which is owned by Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, he said, citing public information, saying the aim is to prevent this money “from being used to compensate victims of the Sodalitium’s abuse.”
Ugaz cited an ongoing inquiry by the Peruvian Attorney General’s office into allegations of international money laundering by the SCV leadership and asked that the Vatican “take the necessary measures” to ensure the alleged crimes have stopped, and victims are compensated.
Likewise, a March 10, 2025, letter sent to Parolin, Prevost and Brambilla by the National Coordinator for Human Rights in Peru outlines financial allegations against the SCV on behalf of a group of peasant farmers who claim years of harassment by SCV companies, and who are now calling for the 1980 Concordat between Peru and the Holy See to be revisited in light of the accusations.
In the letter, the human rights coordinator criticized the SCV for what it called a “pseudo-reparation processes” in which victims were not properly compensated, and in which they were required to sign a document committing them to silence and to making no further complaints.
Various journalistic investigations over the past decade, as well as inquiries by Peruvian prosecutors, have uncovered “a financial operation involving fraud against the Peruvian and North American states,” they said, saying this was done with the help of some church representatives.
Bishops who agreed to accept the SCV’s donation of mission-cemeteries at no financial gain “have failed to fulfill their responsibility,” the group said. Likewise, given that the SCV prior to its suppression was a pontifically-approved society, organization said the Vatican also bears a measure of blame.
“Therefore, we feel compelled to request that this organization be investigated in the United States and not just in Peru,” the coordinator said, and voiced alarm that to date, “authorities in the United States have not reacted to the financial dealings revealed since 2016 by Peruvian journalists, duly accredited by the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office” and the Vatican’s investigatory team.
“This is because, since the management of the companies linked to the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is located in the United States and Peru, they must be prosecuted, both in that country and in ours,” the organization said.
The coordinator also called for a revision of the church-state concordat, since it asserts this agreement was used to commit crimes, asking both political and ecclesiastical authorities in Peru “to immediately review this matter.”
They also insisted that the Foundation Santa Rosa, Providential Inc., and other SCV organizations in the United States provide bank details, a list of individuals and or legal entities associated with them, and information on financial activities in order to determine where the SCV’s money ended up.
For her efforts to investigate and uncover the SCV’s alleged financial crimes, Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz has faced legal and judicial harassment by members and associates of the group, who have filed criminal complaints against her for crimes ranging from defamation to illicit enrichment. Peruvian Father Jaime Baertl, who for decades was the SCV’s financial guru and who was previously expelled from the SCV for his apparent role as the architect of its money-making scheme, currently is threatening Ugaz with legal action.
Baertl has previously threatened the Vatican’s nunciature in Peru with a criminal defamation suit over a communique announcing his expulsion from the SCV last fall for allegations of sexual abuse and financial crime, including tax fraud and international money laundering, which he has denied.
Bertomeu, who has also been sued by two laypeople belonging to the SCV’s broader spiritual family, lamented that most of the SCV’s money is held in private civil organizations and therefore, “It is absolutely impossible to recover.”
Bertomeu lamented that justice in Peru in the SCV case has been cumbersome, noting that civil complaints for abuse were first filed in 2018 and for financial crimes in 2019, yet these cases are moving “very slowly.”
“We trust the American justice system more, where institutions function despite political problems, because there is an effective separation of powers,” he said, noting that many top-ranking SCV members held personal ties to political elites.
With the help of influential friends, the SCV, “began to use these ties with the church as a front to launder money for powerful individuals,” he said, but pledged that they will be held to account in order to ensure just compensation for victims.
Priests from Kenya and India playing key roles in Kerry diocese
At the annual Chrism Mass in Killarney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, at which the oils used in the sacraments throughout the year are consecrated, Bishop Ray Browne said there are now five missionary priests from Kenya – three from Eldoret and two from Kitale – working in the Diocese of Kerry.
Fr Vitalis Barasa has been assigned to the parish of Killarney, Fr Timothy Kiplagat and Fr David Rugutt are both in St John’s Parish, Tralee while Fr Sospeter Kangongo and Fr Amos Surungai Ruto are working in the parish of Our Lady and St Brendan’s Parish, Tralee.
In addition, a priest from India, Fr Arulappa, a member of the Camillian Order who specialises in hospital chaplaincy, has been assigned to Kerry University Hospital.
A Polish chaplaincy is also provided in the diocese and several of the retired priests that attended the Chrism Mass – at which all priests renew their vows – also returned from serving on missionary work abroad.
Bishop Browne said it gives special reason this year to be mindful aspect of the role of the Church in a worldwide context.
“In our worship, in our thanksgiving and in our prayers for our needs let us unite with Christians throughout the world and with dioceses worldwide, mindful that they too have their Chrism Mass,” he said.
Speaking last February, Bishop Browne said the situation regarding the shortage of priests was a major challenge with many of those currently ministering reaching retirement age and just four priests in the entire diocese are aged under 50.
While there are currently five priests from Kenya helping out in parishes around the county, that number will be exceeded by the number of retirements in a few years.
Bishop Browne said some people will remember 25 or 30 years ago when there were 120 priests in the Diocese of Kerry with three in every town parish and two in many rural parishes while secondary schools also had a full-time priest either as chaplain or teaching religion.
Only Killarney and Tralee now have three priests and thee have been just three men ordained in the diocese over the past six years.
Parish secretaries and sacristans have had to take on considerably more work but there is a need to get the laity more involved in the day-to-day running of parishes.
To that end, 25 lay pastoral leaders were commissioned recently, having completed a two-year course, and they will help out in their parishes for a few hours every week.
Friday, April 18, 2025
Priest charged with attempted sexual communication with a child
On Thursday evening, videos circulated online of a man in clerical garb being challenged by self-styled ‘paedophile hunters’.
The man, aged in his 50s, was then arrested outside a hotel in the Derry area.
In a new statement, the PSNI confirmed he has been charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.
He is due to appear before a special sitting of Derry Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, sitting at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police in Derry have charged a 58-year-old man with attempted sexual communication with a child.
"As is usual procedure, the charge will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.”
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Derry said: “The Diocese of Derry is aware of an incident outside a hotel in Derry city involving a priest of this diocese.
“The diocese knows that a video of the incident has been posted online and we understand the PSNI have been involved.
“Currently, the diocese has no further information.”
The Diocese of Derry serves the Catholic congregation of 51 parishes across almost all of Co Derry, parts of Co Tyrone and Co Donegal, and a small area across the River Bann in Co Antrim.
Nigerian Priest: 'I would be happy to be arrested for Christ's sake'
"Those who threaten us with death make us stronger."
In one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, Spiritan priest Fr. Clément Chimaobi Emefu refuses to be ruled by fear. A professor of Canon Law at the Spiritan International School of Theology (SIST) in Attakwu, Enugu State, he seeks to serve as a model for his students and a “sign of hope,” because, as he says, "what makes us vulnerable strengthens our faith."
Enugu State, unlike northern Nigeria, has a Christian majority. However, while jihadist attacks by groups such as Boko Haram are more often associated with the north, Fr. Emefu believes the threat to Christians is spreading nationwide.
According to him, Christians are facing “a project of Islamization of Nigeria,” which he describes as “an ongoing process” marked by both violence and institutional neglect.
A surge in kidnappings
One of the most visible threats to Christians in the southeast is the growing number of kidnappings. In the past decade, over 200 priests and religious have been abducted in Nigeria.
The beginning of 2025 has already seen a sharp rise, with about a dozen kidnappings, two of which resulted in the death of the victims.
Priests and religious, often travelling alone to serve schools, hospitals, or remote communities, are particularly vulnerable. Fr. Emefu, a Canonist for the Southeastern Spiritan Province of Nigeria, frequently drives over 100 kilometres on unsafe roads to reach his office in Onitsha.
The dilemma of ransom
Among the recent cases is that of Spiritan priest Fr. Gerald Ohaeri, abducted on November 30, 2024, by Fulani kidnappers, a nomadic Muslim ethnic group also known as Peuls. While the Church maintains it does not pay ransoms, Fr. Emefu acknowledges the complexity of the situation: “In practice, it's very difficult, because your brother is under serious threat.”
He was closely involved in the efforts to secure Fr. Ohaeri’s release. Yet he warns that "if we foolishly agree to pay the ransom, the kidnappings of priests, monks, and nuns will continue to increase exponentially." Pressure from families eager to pay further complicates the Church’s stance.
A silent form of persecution
The threats extend beyond abductions. According to Fr. Emefu, the presence of armed herders, primarily Muslim nomads from the north, is increasingly visible in the southeast. "They are everywhere," he says. "Even when I leave my school to go to the city of Enugu, I encounter them."
These groups often encroach on farmland, threatening Christian landowners and forcing them to flee. While not classified as terrorism, this displacement amounts to a slow and silent form of persecution. “They enter the forests, the farmlands, and threaten the landowners, often Christians, who are forced to flee,” he explains. “And it is increasing terribly.”
Speaking out, despite the risks
Publicly denouncing such violence carries its own risks. The Bishop of the nearby Diocese of Makurdi, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, CMF, was recently informed he could face arrest upon returning to Nigeria after testifying before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. In his address, the Bishop urged the U.S. government to designate Nigeria as a "Country of Particular Concern."
The Association of Priests of the Diocese of Makurdi voiced strong support for Bishop Anagbe, condemning any form of intimidation. Their statement described his testimony as “not only a moral obligation, but an evangelical imperative rooted in the defence of human dignity.”
Despite the dangers, Fr. Emefu remains resolute. Speaking to Vatican News, he acknowledges the personal risks he faces when travelling outside the city or ministering in rural communities. Yet he remains committed to being a witness for his roughly 200 students, both seminarians and lay people, at SIST.
"Those who threaten us, those who terrorise us, those who make us vulnerable—this is the source of the strengthening of our faith," he concludes.
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