When Irish Christians were harsh & cold (Contribution)

THE film “The Lost Children of Tuam” is a powerful insight into the way we were in this country during the 20th Century, a way which was profoundly unsettling, hypocritical and, ironically, deeply unChristian. 

If the essence of Christianity is a compassionate frame of mind (and I strongly believe it is) then many of us during that unpleasant, nasty period of our history were in fact anti-Christian. 

It is a frequent irony in the history of all nations (as far as I can see) that those who strut and preen themselves on their piety are in fact unkind, harsh and rule-bound.

The Mother and Baby and County Homes of Ireland ran from 1922 (around the foundation of the Irish Free State) until 1998, when the last home (Bessborough) finally closed. 

We had no sooner finally got rid of the British Empire from our lives, when we instituted a bleak, inflexible and heartless version of Catholicism into our lives. 

In other words we replaced one dislikeable form of rule with another (thankfully we didn’t descend into the full-blown authoritarianism of Spain or Portugal, but our instincts were undoubtedly dubious).

During this period, Irish society treated pregnancy outside of marriage as a severe moral disgrace. 

Unwed mothers faced intense judgment from society and rejection from their own families. 

Single mothers were routinely denied financial aid, employment, or backing from the child's father, leaving them destitute and with few alternatives. These single mothers were sometimes wild and unruly, but there was no excuse for treating them the way we did. 

The 18 Mother and Baby and County institutions were set up and funded through a combination of local authorities, the Irish government, and Catholic religious orders (who managed the day-to-day operations) to isolate "fallen women" and manage illegitimate births. 

During the 76-year period of their existence nearly 56,000 to 60,000 women and tens of thousands of children spent time in these institutions. They were characterized by overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate medical facilities, and harsh, unsupportive environments. 

According to an Oireachtas report on the matter, “Women faced severe emotional abuse, stigma, and denigration, particularly during childbirth.” 

About 9,000 children died in the 18 homes, representing an overall infant mortality rate of roughly 15%. In certain homes and peak periods, death rates were drastically higher—for example, reaching up to 75% in Bessborough in 1943 and 62% in Bethany in 1943. 

Common causes included infectious diseases, malnutrition, and congenital debility. Mothers faced immense psychological, social, and institutional pressure to surrender their children for adoption. By 1967, adoption peaked at 97% of births categorized as "illegitimate.” 

The October 2020 Final Report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation stated that there was “little evidence" of formal physical force in every single adoption, but added that mothers had no realistic alternatives and little control over the fate of their children.

The Sean Ross Abbey Mother and Baby Home in Roscrea operated from 1932 to 1970 and was run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

During its existence 6,414 women and 6,079 children were admitted to the facility. The home suffered from severe overcrowding, and high infant mortality rates were driven by epidemics including measles, whooping cough, viral pneumonia, diphtheria, and typhoid (with 1,090 infant deaths recorded over its history, including deaths from conditions like marasmus). 

Following legal changes in the 1950s, the home became a major hub for forced or coerced adoptions, sending hundreds of children away, including hundreds adopted by families in the United States. 

The home features in the oscar-nominated film “Philomena.” Survivors and campaigners have continuously pushed for investigations into the unmarked graves at the site's "Angels Plot" in Sean Ross. They seek the full accounting and excavations of the children who died there. They have called for a tank to be unearthed which they believe might contain human remains, a situation which is reminiscent of the Tuam Home as depicted in “The Lost Children of Tuam.”

I think Archbishop Eamon Martin, leader of the Irish Catholic Church, was correct when he said it would be wrong if religious congregations were left to carry the sole blame for the Homes; and he was right to emphasise that the entire culture and society of the time supported or condoned the system. 

The crucial point is that pregnant women were frequently rejected, hidden, or sent away by their own families and local communities who prioritized social respectability over the welfare of the mother and child.

In a very interesting article in “The Irish Catholic”, David Quinn made the point that many people unfairly demonise the Bon Secours nuns for what happened in the Tuam Home.

“The nuns did not kill the babies or deliberately neglect them to death,” he writes. He said it’s important to also factor in the prevailing poverty of the era and the fact the Home was “badly under-resourced by Galway County Council.” 

Some years ago the State ordered a dig at the Tuam site to find the bodies of the 800 children. 

The dig is still underway and periodically issues reports. The most recent report, last July, said another 99 bodies had been found, all in coffins. 

The underground structure / septic tank hasn’t yet been investigated, but it will be and we know that bodies will also be found there. 

At this stage, it looks likely that the majority of the bodies were buried in coffins.

'Historic day' in UK as Philomena's Law comes into effect

In Britain, Philomena's Law comes into effect last Friday.

Named after campaigner Philomena Lee, the law stops people in Britain losing social welfare entitlements and other state supports if they receive a payment from the Irish Government's mother and baby homes redress scheme.

Up to 13,000 people living in Britain may be eligible to claim under the scheme, but so far only about a thousand have done so.

At the London Irish Centre in Camden, a small group gathered this morning to mark the successful passage of Philomena's law, which came into effect today - just a year and a half after beginning life as a private members bill, promoted by Labour MP Liam Conlon.

The law's aim is to correct a manifest injustice: survivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes could get financial redress under an Irish scheme, but many in the UK have been reluctant to take it because it would have counted towards their means tested income.

And that could have cost them social welfare and other state supports like care home payments - leaving them worse off.

Mr Conlon described the change as "massive" and "a historic day".

"It's the first time ever in British law that a payment from a foreign government has been ring-fenced, and it's all been about the 13,000 survivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes living in Britain.

"They received a long-awaited apology and then access to a redress scheme but were being penalised if they accepted that payment in Britain while receiving means-tested benefits.

"We have campaigned really hard for the last 18 months and I am so pleased that it's now law as of today."

The law is named after Philomena Lee, originally from Limerick, whose story of the forced adoption of her son from a convent was turned into an Oscar-nominated movie starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

Her daughter and fellow campaigner Jane Libberton was in Camden for the event marking the laws start, and said: "I think its amazing. I think its a really good thing because i hope it allows more people to actually claim for the redress scheme.

"I don't think that many have, and I think a lot of people also don't know about it - that's part of the problem.

"So by Philomena's law coming in I hope they can publicize it for people to know that they can claim."

'Lasting legacy'

Philomena herself has recently moved into a care home, but Ms Libberton says she is delighted by the new law.

She said: "I spoke to her about it yesterday. She's 93 now and is getting a bit frailer, but she was absolutely delighted.

"It's just a shame she cant be here herself - she would love to have been. But it's a lasting legacy for her and her story - and many other people and their stories as well."

Mr Conlon says the movie was a big help in trying to build cross party support for his bill in the House of Commons and beyond.

"I think people in Britain, when you're trying to talk to them about this story, may not have heard of mother and baby homes, but they've all heard of Philomena Lee and the film Philomena," he said.

"People really connected with that and it helped to build support, build cross-party support and connect with the public.

"We've had an overwhelming level of support for this and it's really helped us get to where we are today."

Getting to this point happened rather quickly by Westminster standards.

Mr Conlon was only elected to the House of commons in 2024, winning his seat in Beckenham and Penge in greater London at the General Election that year.

He tabled Philomena's Law as a private members' bill in March of last year, getting ten minutes to introduce the bill to the House.

It helped greatly that he was able to garner cross party support for the bill.

Then the campaigning started in earnest with Irish community groups contacting MPs up and down the country.

"We didn't think we'd get it through this quickly when we introduced it to Parliament last March.

"It's been a testament to the Irish community in Britain, who have come together and worked really hard.

"MPs from across the political spectrum also came together to work on this, as did Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whose parents are from Donegal and who really understood the issue.

"When I went to see him, he immediately got it. He helped push it through and get us to where we are today."

In March of this year the then UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the bill, as did Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

At a meeting in Cork the two leaders agreed to reciprocal measures, ringfencing the Irish redress scheme payments from British welfare law, and agreeing the same principle should apply to any similar British payments to people living in Ireland.

The original Irish legislation in the Redress Scheme for the Mother and Baby Homes already ringfenced redress payments from Irish welfare rules, so the same issues did not arise in Ireland.

In April the UK Department of Work and Pensions under Mr McFadden issued an advisory to national and local civil servants to disregard redress Scheme payments from calculations for welfare entitlements while legislation was pending.

Adopted as Government legislation, regulations to formally change the law were tabled in the Commons in September, and came into force today, Friday, 30 October.

For Irish community groups in Britain, the priority now is to tell people who may be eligible for the Redress Scheme about the change in the law that means they won't risk losing more than they gain.

Irish in Britain, an organisation that links Irish groups in the UK and which campaigned in favour of Philomena's law, said the Irish redress scheme is only open to new claims for another two and a half years, so there is an urgency in getting the message about the new law out to the community, especially in Scotland where there has been a notable lack of uptake of the scheme.

Rosa Gilbert, Policy and Research manager with Irish in Britain said: " Now that we have this law, the message is to ensure that survivors based in Britain apply to the scheme.

"They can come to places such as the London Irish Centre or phone the national freephone helpline to get support with their application.

"The payment scheme is about halfway through its lifespan, so there are only another two and a half years left for people to apply.

"The message is for people to come forward now. With their benefits now ring-fenced, they can apply without fearing that their housing benefit, pension credit or other means-tested benefits will be cut off."

And she pointed out that it is not just people who are currently claiming benefits that will benefit from the change in the law: " Even though it may appear that this only affects a small proportion of those who are eligible to apply to the scheme, anyone could need to rely on means-tested benefits in the future, whether that's for social care or other forms of support.

"This legislation therefore ensures that it is not only people currently claiming benefits who will benefit from it.

"It will also protect people who may need to claim benefits at some point in the future, with these compensation payments remaining ring-fenced".

Ms Gilbert also called on the Irish Government to publicise the change in the law to the Irish in Britain.

"In terms of reaching people who might not normally come forward to Irish centres, or who may not be part of an established Irish community, it is really important that the Irish Government carries out a public information campaign", she said.

"That means getting information onto radio programmes, into newspapers and through statutory services and GP surgeries, wherever people are likely to come across it.

"In particular, there needs to be a focus on reaching survivors of mother-and-baby homes and ensuring they are aware of the scheme, because lack of awareness is often the first hurdle people face in accessing it."

Mr Conlon agreed with the need for outreach, especially to those who are not connected to organised Irish networks in Britain.

He said: "Because of the potential to be penalised for accepting compensation in Britain, people haven't been coming forward to claim it.

"We've heard stories of people who came forward, made an application and then pressed pause.

"What's really good is that we now know, from speaking to groups like the London Irish Centre, that there are people already benefiting from this legislation.

"What we need to do now is contact thousands more survivors who are eligible, let them know about it and support them through the process.

"That's exactly what we're going to be doing."

The London Irish Centre in Camden operates a Freephone Line for callers within the UK only, on 0800 519 5519. the line is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.

Archbishop Richard Alarcón Urrutia of Cusco has died

The Archbishop of Cusco in Peru, Richard Alarcón Urrutia, passed away on Friday, October 30, at the age of 74, following a long illness.

The Archdiocese of Cusco announced his death in a statement published on social media, expressing its “profound sadness” at his passing.

His death comes just days before Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in the Peruvian city on November 15, a visit for which the archbishop had been making preparations.

Deep sorrow expressed by the Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco

Archbishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, who was appointed by Pope Leo XIV as Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco on August 29, expressed his “deep sorrow at the sad passing.”

He joined Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s family and loved ones in mourning “this irreparable loss” and offered prayers “that God, in His infinite mercy, may welcome him into His Kingdom and grant him eternal rest.”

Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia’s health had suddenly deteriorated in recent days. His body is lying in state at Cusco’s Cathedral, where hundreds of faithful are gathering to pay their final respects to the Archbishop, according to the archdiocese’s statement.

Archbishop Alarcón Urrutia was born in Lima on April 10, 1952. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1969, was ordained a priest in 1976, and received episcopal ordination in 2001.

On October 27, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Cusco, a position he began on January 3, 2015.

His funeral will take place this Sunday, November 1, at the city's cathedral.

The Peruvian Bishops' Conference joins in prayer

“With great sorrow, but with hope in the Resurrection, the Peruvian Bishops' Conference announces to all the People of God the sad passing of Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cusco, who departed for the House of the Heavenly Father on Friday, October 30,” the statement released by the Peruvian Bishops' Conference read.

The Conference said it “joins in prayer” with the Archdiocese of Cusco, the Coadjutor Archbishop Estrada Herrera, as well as the clergy, religious men and women, the faithful, and his family, “asking the Lord of Life to welcome into His Kingdom of light and peace the man who was a dedicated servant of His Church.”

Theme for World Mission Day 2027: ‘The love of Christ sends us forth'

“The love of Christ sends us forth” is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for the 101st World Mission Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday, 24 October 2027.  

According to a press release by the Dicastery for Evangelisation’s Section for the First Evangelisation and New Particular Churches, “It speaks to the very heart of the Christian mission: the love of Christ, when received and lived out, becomes the driving force for proclaiming the Gospel and being a neighbour to everyone.”

The statement recalls that in his Message for World Mission Day 2026, the Pope recalled: “If unity is the condition of mission, love is its essence.”  

Indeed, it adds, “the Church’s mission arises from the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, is nourished by our encounter with Him, and takes the form of a concrete witness to fraternity, closeness and service. Christ’s love does not leave us indifferent, but urges us to go beyond ourselves, to reach out to others and, above all, to reach out to those who are lonely, poor or suffering.”

In preparation for World Mission Day 2027, Pope Leo’s Message will be published at the start of next year, and it will guide the reflection, outreach and missionary formation of Christian communities.

Families demand Catholic secondary school in Aberdeen

The number of Catholics in Aberdeen has nearly doubled in the past 25 years and eleven Aberdeen schools are over subscribed. More than 1,000 families have signed a petition requesting a Catholic secondary school.

Yet the city council voted against opening a Catholic secondary school in 2024 and 2025. 

Now, the prospect is due for discussion at a meeting of the full SNP/Labour majority council in December. It will be the third time the council votes on the measure, despite the fact that Aberdeen city school rolls show that 11 primary and secondary schools are over-subscribed while a further 15 now operate at 90 per cent capacity.

“There are now more Catholics in Aberdeen than in Dundee, which has 10 Catholic primary and two Catholic secondary schools”, said John Murray, who is the Catholic Church representative on the Education and Children’s Services Committee of Aberdeen City Council.

He told The Tablet numbers of Catholics in the city on Scotland’s north-east coast had nearly doubled since 2001. Figures for the 2001 census showed that 11,919 Catholics lived in Aberdeen. By the 2022 census, that figure had increased to 19,239.

“There’s a large Polish community in Aberdeen. There’s a large number of Nigerians and also loads of Scots brought up in south-west Scotland where Catholic schools are what you have”, said Murray.

The idea for the secondary school was “parent-led,” he told The Tablet:  “When Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen was making synodal visits to all the parishes and meeting the parishioners, a lot of people said to him why is there no Catholic secondary school?”

“The fundamental thing is that the vast majority of families in Scotland whether Catholics or non-Catholics, Muslims or non-believers  can send their child into a Catholic Secondary School. Aberdeen County Council are denying this to Aberdeen families”, said Murray. “The law obliges the local authority to provide a Catholic school if it can be shown there’s a need for one.

He added: “Two years ago, the council surveyed the people of Aberdeen about the future of the city’s three Catholic primary schools. It also asked people if they would support a Catholic secondary school. Hundreds responded ‘yes’, but the council failed to ask the respondents how many children they had”.

Asked why the council has opposed the opening of a Catholic secondary school, Murray replied: “I don’t know. All we have been asking the council is that they agree to set up a working group with representatives of the council and from the Catholic Church to discuss the possibility”.

A private convent school for girls run by the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart closed in 1964. A decade later, St Peter’s closed its secondary school to operate only as a Catholic primary school.

Armagh sets out six-year plan to strengthen parish life

The Archdiocese of Armagh has outlined a six-year plan to strengthen parish life, including proposals for new regional youth and family hubs, changes to sacramental preparation and initiatives to encourage young people to remain involved with the Church after Confirmation.

The proposals, covering 2026 – 2032, build upon the Archdiocese’s Congress on Youth, Family and Faith from earlier this year, along with Archbishop Eamon Martin’s pastoral letter from earlier this month, ‘Go, Rebuild My Church’.

The plan brings together 14 proposals under five missionary pathways: faith formation, liturgy, youth and family outreach, evangelisation and prayer.

Among the proposals are regional ‘Youth and Family Belonging Hubs’ which would bring young people and families together across parish boundaries, alongside a new post-Confirmation discipleship and leadership programme. Other proposals include a family-centred approach to sacramental preparation, further formation for clergy and lay ministers, and a diocesan strategy for digital evangelisation.

The Archdiocese also acknowledged the difficulties facing parishes, including “fewer active clergy, changing patterns of participation and differing levels of local capacity”.

“Our response, however, cannot be limited to managing those pressures or maintaining existing structures,” the proposals document states. “The Congress calls us to look again at how we encounter Christ, grow in faith, pray and worship together, accompany young people and families, and share the Gospel with others.”

The accompanying reflection guide emphasises that the plans must extend beyond existing parish communities, seeking to reach those who have become less connected with the Church.

“The five pathways are not separate projects, but different expressions of the one baptismal calling we share,” it states. “Through prayer, formation, welcome, accompaniment and mission, each of us is invited to play a part in renewing the life of the Church and carrying the Gospel beyond ourselves.”

Five regional gatherings will take place across the Archdiocese in November, when parish, school and community representatives will consider how the proposals might be put into practice.

Communities are being encouraged to identify one or two priorities suited to their local circumstances, with the Archdiocese stressing that the proposals are “not presented as a finished programme”, but rather a starting point for further discussion and implementation.

Notre Dame residence rector cleared of anonymous online abuse allegations

The University of Notre Dame has cleared and rehired a former residence rector of anonymous online sexual assault allegations, as her civil defamation case against her unknown accusers proceeds in an Indiana court.

The university provided OSV News with a statement from Karen Kennedy, associate vice president of residential life, who said a "thorough investigation" had determined "there was no evidence to support that any of the alleged misconduct occurred."

Kennedy's statement was shared in an email to residents of McGlinn Hall, one of the campus' women's residences, the university told OSV News.

Elizabeth Greenop — who had been removed as McGlinn's rector and placed on leave in August pending a university investigation — will now serve as an assistant director of residential life, according to that office's website and an Oct. 29 article by the school's independent newspaper, The Observer.

Greenop had been the subject of several graphic sexual assault accusations posted in June and July to shareyourstory.notredame, an Instagram account not affiliated with the university.

Following professional news standards, OSV News did not disclose Greenop's name in its initial coverage due to the uncorroborated nature of the anonymous, social media-based allegations.

Greenop's name and association with the matter became public record due to her August filing of a civil suit in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Superior Court.

The suit holds that the allegations made by the 10 defendants — referenced as "Jane" and "John Doe(s)" —  constitute both defamation and a false-light invasion of privacy, a charge similar to defamation.

In her affidavit, Greenop had denied all the claims made in the allegations, noting she had "not been arrested for or charged with any crime in connection" with them.

Without naming Greenop, Kennedy said in her statement that "the rector in question was fully and thoroughly cooperative throughout the entire investigation, which included significant efforts to identify individuals with any knowledge relevant to the alleged misconduct as well as any misconduct involving the types that were alleged."

Kennedy said the investigation "also included numerous interviews with members of the residence hall community," adding that "at no point did anyone interviewed identify themselves as being subject to the alleged misconduct or as being aware of anyone else who had been subject to such misconduct."

On Oct. 9, Greenop won a court order allowing her to subpoena social media giant Meta to identify those behind anonymous Instagram posts accusing her of sexual assault.

She can now demand that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, provide "documents and records sufficient to identify" the individuals behind both the allegations and the Instagram account that published the claims.

The administrator of the shareyourstory.notredame Instagram account declined comment to OSV News regarding the lawsuit and the results of the university investigation.

‘Document fatigue’ from Vatican is making it hard on local Churches (Opinion)

“Beatings will continue until morale improves.”

That’s a cynical phrase passed around offices worldwide, and it’s one I thought about when reading Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández’s interview with the Spanish Catholic website, Religión Confidencial.

In the interview, Fernández discussed Venite ad me, the 25,000-word document issued by Fernández’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on October 22, a week ago.

The book-sized set of “considerations” from the DDF looks at how the passing on of the Faith has changed, saying the Church is experiencing an “epochal change.”

Most of the English-language press focused on InfoVaticana’s write-up of the Spanish-language interview in Religión Confidencial.

InfoVaticana’s piece carried a headline saying Fernández “admits scant impact of Venite ad me.”

Some early reporting of Fernandez’s remarks suggested the cardinal blamed conservatives, who were ignoring it because of their obsession with sex.

That was a little unfair.

He actually criticized both conservatives and progressives, saying liberals are mostly concerned with “structural change and dialogue with society” while conservatives are kept “up at night [by] the transmission of sexual morality.”

That may still be an awfully tidy take on complex situations, but it is certainly is fairer than the gloss of the remark that blames only or primarily conservatives.

In any case, the cardinal said he was not surprised the new Vatican document didn’t get much attention.

“I was realistic,” he said.

“Although many bishops’ conferences responded in the consultation before the document, to help with the analysis,” the prefect said, “a document that asks for progress in local implementation is something more demanding.”

The Synodality promoted by Pope Francis in 2013’s Evangelii Gaudium called for a “sound decentralization.” During his pontificate, he called for the Roman curia to be at the service of the bishops.

Less than a week after its release, Fernández was already lamenting the lack of interest. That was awfully early to criticize conferences for not taking it up.

Bishops’ conferences meet only a couple or a few times a year, and those in the northern hemisphere usually enter their fall meetings in November.

The cardinal told Religión Confidencial that he is “persisting” in his efforts to have his new document addressed.

“For that reason, we have sought assistance from the Secretariat of State to ask the episcopal conferences to make an effort toward receiving and implementing it,” Fernández said.

“Hopefully,” he said, “through this approach, we will achieve something. We shall see.”

This urgency wasn’t enough to have a Vatican press conference to answer any questions, though. The cardinal said such a thing would be “counterproductive” since journalists would want to ask him about “other topics.”

Yes, many bishops are holding their conference meetings in the coming month (although some had them before Venite was issued last week).

These bishops will be talking about particular issues facing their churches, from forms of persecution in various countries to founding schools and charities, and even – yes – how to better proclaim the Gospel.

Bishops are still digesting Pope Leo’s encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas, released on May 25, which sets out the governing principles of his pontificate, especially regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI), for the Catholic world.

However, Fernández says Venite Ad Me should be on the docket and is calling on the Secretariat of State to push the issue.

Since his appointment in 2023, the head of the doctrine dicastery has written and released a slew of documents: Fiducia Supplicans, which covered blessings and caused controversy in its advice for blessing homosexual couples; Dignitas Infinita, which was on human dignity, and caused complaints from both progressives and conservatives about its discussion of gender theory; Mater Populi Fidelis, which caused controversy over its statements on various Marian titles; Una Caro, which discusses monogamy in marriage, which caused some controversy for its emphasis on Western problems of separation and divorce, as opposed to the polygamy in the developing world which was asked for by the African bishops; and Fernández co-signed the Note about the anniversary of the Vatican II document on interreligious affairs.

That’s a long sentence.

In the age of a “decentralized” Synodal Church, the cardinal is – less than a week after its publication – calling on the Secretariat of State to ask the bishops to address a document which describes itself as a non-binding text of “Considerations” that are up for “further analysis and development.”

It really does seem he really does want the bishops to get on it (but he only says so in a small Spanish-language news organization).

“Is this Synodality?” is a fair question. “Is this a ‘healthy decentralization’?” is another.

The Synod on Synodality’s implementation phase has its next major assembly in 2028, and the Vatican has called on bishops to play a bigger role in how the Catholic Church is governed.

It is still two years away, and the Holy See is already causing document fatigue, which seems to demonstrate a top-down view of a process that it has proclaimed will be bottom-up.

Rome’s actions seem to be in competition with its words – and as long as the bishops don’t follow them, the beatings … er … documents are likely to keep coming.

Franciscans leave Toulouse after more than four centuries due to a lack of vocations

The Franciscan community of Tolosa (Gipuzkoa) bid farewell to the town last Sunday, October 25, ending more than four centuries of religious, pastoral, and cultural presence. 

The lack of vocations and generational renewal has forced the last three friars to leave the historic Convent of San Francisco and move to Zarautz. 

Their departure also marks a change for the monumental complex, whose acquisition has been agreed upon by the Town Council, which plans to dedicate the church to cultural activities.

The final farewell Mass was celebrated in the Church of San Francisco and was presided over by the Bishop of San Sebastián, Fernando Prado Ayuso. 

The diocese had announced the celebration, which brought together numerous faithful and neighbors to thank the community for its work, deeply tied to the town’s history.

The lack of vocations forces the closure of a historic community

The departure of the Franciscans is due to the decline in the number of religious and the inability to ensure the community’s continuity.

The last three friars assigned to Tolosa, Juan José Muniain, José Luis Agirretxe, and Florentino Arruti, will move to the Franciscan convent in Zarautz, where the order will concentrate part of its members.

Muniain, who has spent 38 years in Tolosa, explained in statements reported by Radio San Sebastián that the decision was not due to financial difficulties or specific problems within the community, but rather to the lack of new vocations.

“We have no vocations. There are no replacements, and we cannot maintain all the houses,” the friar acknowledged.

The decision is part of a broader reorganization process of Franciscan communities, which are facing a progressive reduction in the number of friars.

During the farewell Mass, the Franciscan provincial, Joxe Mari Arregi, also explained that the lack of religious forces communities to concentrate. According to figures released on the occasion of the farewell, while in 1960 there were 140 friars in Arantzazu, today only about 80 remain, spread across the various convents of the religious province.

The departure from Tolosa thus reflects a reality affecting numerous religious congregations in Spain: the aging of their members and the absence of enough vocations to keep historic houses open.

More than four centuries of Franciscan presence in Tolosa

The history of the Franciscans in Tolosa dates back to the 16th century. According to the Town Council of Tolosa, the presence of the order began in 1587, although other historical references place its first steps a few years earlier.

In 1577, Pedro Mendizorrotz, a resident of Ibarra, requested authorization to establish a Franciscan convent and offered land for its construction. The religious complex was built over the following decades and became one of the main spiritual and cultural landmarks of the town.

The Church of San Francisco, whose construction was completed at the end of the 16th century, preserves a notable artistic heritage, especially its Renaissance main altarpiece, created by Ambrosio Bengoetxea at the beginning of the 17th century.

The Franciscan presence endured numerous historical events, including wars, the disentailment, and various fires that affected the convent.

In 1814, a fire destroyed much of the complex, although the church survived. During the 19th century, political and military circumstances forced the religious to temporarily abandon their facilities, which were even used as barracks, a hospital, and a warehouse.

The community returned permanently in 1915, when the convent that remained in operation until this year was built.

An important religious, educational, and cultural role

The influence of the Franciscans in Tolosa went far beyond liturgical activity.

For centuries, the community participated in the religious and educational formation of generations of townspeople. Among its historic initiatives was the Colegio de San José, founded in the 17th century, which contributed to the education and intellectual life of the town.

The friars also played a significant role in promoting the Basque language and culture, especially during the 20th century.

The convent was linked to various cultural and publishing initiatives, including the journal Jakin, a reference publication in the Basque cultural sphere that developed part of its trajectory in connection with the Franciscan community.

The Town Council has expressly recognized this contribution and highlighted that the religious served thousands of residents, both in spiritual life and in promoting the local language and traditions.

In its October 23 statement, the council recalled that the church and convent were for centuries places of gathering and refuge for generations of Tolosa’s inhabitants, both in times of hardship and during community celebrations.

The Town Council will acquire the church and convent for new uses

The departure of the religious will also bring an important change in the future of the monumental complex of San Francisco.

The Town Council of Tolosa and the Franciscan Province of Arantzazu have reached an agreement for the church and convent to become municipal property, after nearly a year of negotiations.

The council has committed to preserving the artistic and architectural value of the complex and to making its facilities available to the public.

However, the future of the church will no longer be primarily tied to its religious function.

The mayor of Tolosa, Andu Martínez de Rituerto, explained in an interview with Radio San Sebastián on October 26 that the municipal intention is to convert the Church of San Francisco into a cultural space.

Although the activities it will host have not yet been specified, the Town Council is considering possibilities such as concerts, conferences, or other cultural initiatives.

The mayor even mentioned European examples of former churches transformed into libraries or cultural facilities, although he did not announce a final decision on such a model for Tolosa.

One of the main constraints will be the preservation of the church’s artistic heritage, especially its main altarpiece, whose historical value requires specific protection measures.

Regarding the convent, the Town Council had initially considered allocating it to social housing. However, the building’s architectural features could make that transformation difficult, so its use as a cultural facility is also being considered.

For now, the final economic conditions of the operation and the precise timeline for adapting the buildings have not been publicly disclosed.

Another religious community disappears from Tolosa

The farewell to the Franciscans adds to other recent closures of religious communities in the town.

In 2023, the Poor Clares also left Tolosa, as part of a reorganization process caused by the aging and decline of their communities.

The departure of the Franciscans now leaves without a stable presence an order that for centuries contributed to the spiritual, educational, and cultural life of the town.

The Town Council wanted to bid farewell to the religious with a public recognition and adopted their traditional Franciscan greeting, “Peace and All Good,” to wish them well in their new stage.

The preservation of the church and convent will allow an important part of Tolosa’s historical heritage to be maintained. 

However, the closure of the community marks the disappearance of a religious presence that had accompanied generations of the faithful and raises a broader question about the future of historic convents and churches in light of the vocational crisis affecting numerous congregations in Spain.

New York archbishop joins religious sisters in suing state over assisted suicide law

New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks this week joined a lawsuit alongside several orders of religious sisters, suing to stop the state from forcing Catholics to adhere to its newly created suicide regime.

The archbishop added his name to a lawsuit that includes Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. 

Hicks’ addition to the suit was announced by the religious liberty law firm Becket on Oct. 30.

The New York Archdiocese joins the suit after it was launched in July of this year by Catholic objectors to the state’s new suicide law. 

The Catholic plaintiffs in that suit argued that the state’s assisted suicide rules would force them to participate in the process of helping suicidal patients kill themselves, a violation of core Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, a federal court ordered that the state could not enforce the suicide rules against the Catholic objectors while the suit itself played out.

Hicks said on Oct. 30 that Catholics “are guided by the compassion of Jesus to serve those of every background who are in need of healing.”

“We refuse to allow New York to force us to harm the very ones we’ve been called to care for,” he said.

Hicks is the latest Catholic prelate to join the legal fight against assisted suicide in the U.S. A total of four bishops and dozens of religious sisters have sued the governments of New York and Illinois after the states enacted assisted suicide programs.

In addition to the New York ruling, the Catholic objectors in Illinois — which include the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Springfield — have secured victories at federal court, with a judge ordering the state to hold off on enforcing suicide rules against them while the suits play out.

In New York, the Catholic healthcare ministry ArchCare also joined the lawsuit against the state. Among ArchCare’s facilities is Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, which offers hospice care for those with six months or less to live.

Becket describes the Calvary facility as “the only fully-accredited acute care hospital in the U.S. devoted exclusively to the palliative care of adult patients with life-limiting illnesses.”

Brendan Hoban: National Synodal Assembly, Gormanston, Co Meath (Contribution)

Just over a week or so ago 300 delegates from all corners of Ireland gathered in the North West Hotel in Gormanston, County Meath for the Irish National Synodal Assembly (Editor : it is actually called the CityNorth Hotel). 

The task was to consider the latest stage in a reform programme that is intended to give direction and purpose to the Catholic Church as inspired by Pope Francis.

Effectively, the reform is re-setting the Church on a synodal pathway – in short, revisiting and reactivating the long-neglected vision of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) of ‘a People’s Church’. 

In simple terms, it recaptures a way of being church that is more effective, more purposeful and more ‘user friendly’ in responding to the challenge that modernity represents for Catholicism today.

The importance word here is ‘SYNODALITY’, meaning a shared responsibility for all the baptised in the future of their Church: in governance; in discerning change; in employing strategies of active listening; in consensus in decision-making; in being transparent and accountable; in courageously naming difficult truths and in employing participative structures in every possible way.

Its intention is to move The Catholic Church now in its third millennium into the modern world and making it ‘more fit for purpose’.

Inevitably, the prospect of this ‘church revolution in approach and in resetting’ has divided Catholic opinion and the Gormanston Synod was the latest of three similar gatherings – the first in Athlone in 2022, the second in Kilkenny in 2025 and now Meath in 2026 – to devise what Francis called ‘a new way of being church for the third millennium’.

Finding our place in the modern world and devising a future to pay due respect to the teachings of Jesus Christ can seem like turning around a huge ocean-going liner in a busy sea and setting a new course and direction. 

It takes time and effort to secure unity without necessarily demanding uniformity and at the same time making space to ensure that no one, despite the challenge of different perspectives, is swept overboard. Inevitably too, some are, in Maggie Thatcher’s phrase, ‘not for turning’ and insist on clinging to the wreckage rather that in shaping a different church.

On entering the mammoth North West Hotel over a week or so ago, that perspective was clear. For all the world like a great liner parked awkwardly in a sea of green fields, the hotel evinced a conviction of being part of a different world. 

However, on entering this new and exotic space, a more homely reminder of things past was a veritable mountain of the latest edition of the Irish Catholic newspaper free, on offer to the 300 delegates. 

At first sight, it appeared a predictable publicity campaign to increase that paper’s circulation. On closer examination, it seemed much more than that – as if it had definitively thrown its weight against the Synodal Pathway in that pages 2 and 3 were exclusively devoted to a long article rubbishing synodality. 

Fr Andrew McMahon, a parish priest in the North of Ireland, decreed that Synodality was ‘significantly out of sync with the reality of Church life here’; it was failing ‘to offer the Church a realistic programme going forward’; and its claims were ‘likely dependent for its delivery on an ever-expanding bureaucracy’. 

It is of course easy to dismiss untested ambitions for reform and easy too to fuel fears and phobias as with McMahon’s comment – ‘the potential for harm to children, youth and others by the promotion of LGBT plus ideologies’. 

McMahon (and the Irish Catholic) adopt a presumptive judgement that the jury is still out on Synodality. They’re wrong.

In the words of theologian, Eamonn Conway, in his impressive book, Changing to be Faithful, ‘the Church is now convinced that synodality is the means by which questions and issues are faithfully addressed and the means which best enable discernment consistent with what God wants of his church at this time’. 

With synodality, Conway writes, the People of God both accept ‘change and remain faithful’. It is possible, indeed necessary to embrace both stances.

Anyone adopting the McMahon/Irish Catholic thesis that synodality is still merely an option (or a choice or a suggestion to be still debated), would be disabused of such a perspective if they attended the Gormanston synod. There the Bishop of Meath, Tom Deenihan, described the synodal pathway as ‘a springtime for the Church’ and ‘a new phase in the acceptance of Vatican Two’. 

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, in an upbeat and positive address, indicated that the Irish bishops who had already walked ‘the synodal path with the people, religious and clergy (of Ireland) were meeting next week and looked forward to reflecting on today’s assembly’ as  ‘the church needs to act to benefit all those who have been excluded, abused, wounded and hurt.’ 

And it is now abundantly clear that most Irish Catholics – though not most priests – are happy to respond to the living tradition of a synodal church – to move in order to remain faithful.

There is absolutely no doubt now about the attitude of the Irish Church to synodality. The presence of Pope Francis seemed to hover over the Gormanston event as did the comfort of Pope Leo’s persistent endorsement of Francis’s vision of a synodal church. The implementation phase of the synod continues unabated and has overtaken any and every presumption of a divided jury. 

And not least because at the end of the General Assembly (Synod on Synodality) in Rome in October 2024, the church has accepted that Pope Francis used a formula of words that made the Final Document magisterial – in that he ruled that synodality is now here to stay.

The maturity that attends this choice was very evident in the Gormanston gathering where respect for divergent views was honoured and critical comments were welcomed. 

Gormanston saw the emergence of a flush of groups and entities – mainly conservative Catholics attempting to control or manage the Synodal Pathway – some of whose legitimate attendance as Catholics may be open to question. 

However, as an understanding grows of the new reality that synodality is effectively now part of the teaching of the church, synodal gatherings will be less driven by political considerations and by efforts to ignore or oppose or limit or undo its remit. 

It will simply represent what Eamonn Conway calls ‘an operative culture whereby all the People of God fulfil their particular and distinctive role and responsibility in discerning how best the Church can fulfil its mission’. And where mischief-making can be named for what it is.

There is now no other way.

It is clear that the synodal journey of the Irish Catholic Church, inspired by the prophetic vision of Pope Francis and the uncompromising endorsement of Pope Leo had attracted the full support of the Irish bishops and Irish Catholics. 

And, despite inevitable and predictable pushback, it has again moved firmly towards a clear validation of synodality as the future focus of the Irish Catholic Church.

The changing face of Vatican communications (Contribution)

On Sunday, Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado steps into her new role as the youngest and first laywoman (not a religious sister) prefect of a Vatican dicastery: the Dicastery for Communication. 

The dicastery—to use some Halloween language—is a “Frankenstein” of different organizations, including the Vatican’s press office, newspaper, radio stations, book publishing, film archive and more, which were only brought together just over a decade ago under Pope Francis.

While the exact issues Ms. Alvarado will have to contend with have been much discussed (budget concerns chief among them), one little-examined aspect is the ongoing reform of Vatican communications that she inherits. 

Understanding that reform, though, necessitates a quick look back at the major shifts in Vatican communications that have come before: the one ushered in by Pope John Paul II beginning in 1979, the shift from spin-master to more neutral papal spokesman in 2006 and Francis’ overhaul of the communications department in 2015.

While the Vatican advocated for a more open relationship with the world of social communications—its blanket term for all mass communication tools—beginning with the brief Vatican II declaration “Inter Mirifica” (1963), perhaps the biggest shift toward implementing that openness was John Paul II’s decision, on his earliest papal flights, to visit the back of the plane and take questions from journalists. 

Bill Blakemore, who covered John Paul II for ABC, recalled, “We could ask him anything, and did—about sex and drugs and rock-and-roll, about what it’s like to be pope, and about liberation theology, existential philosophy, Spanish cooking—anything.” The Polish pope, he said, held his own, and was always game to answer even off-kilter questions, jumping between seven or eight languages agilely.

That openness was also on display in communications that came from the Vatican: After John Paul was shot in 1981, the Vatican quickly became a source for the most up-to-date medical information on the pope, which it provided in surprising detail. 

The director of Vatican Radio, Jesuit Father Roberto Tucci, even broadcasted from the antechamber of the operating room as surgeons worked to save the pope’s life.

As those who remember John Paul II’s long struggle with Parkinson’s will remember, though, that openness did not last. 

The veteran Vaticanist John Thavis recalled in an interview with me during one of Pope Francis’ hospitalizations that the Vatican avoided using the term Parkinson’s for years, instead referring to “extra-pyramidal disease” and refusing to comment on how it affected the pope’s daily work.

The man who oversaw those communications—and all of the Vatican’s press relations—was papal spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls, a layman and Opus Dei numerary who had worked as a journalist and trained as a physician and became papal spokesman in 1984, three years after the assassination attempt. 

Mr. Navarro-Valls enjoyed an intensely close relationship with John Paul II; he cried while giving an update on John Paul’s health the day before the pope died. While Mr. Navarro-Valls was appreciated by some, particularly following his predecessor Father Romeo Panciroli (who one former correspondent told me was nicknamed “non mi risulta,” or “I’m not aware of that”), others said he could keep Vatican communications “as secretive as the Kremlin.” 

The fairest evaluation may simply be that Mr. Navarro-Valls understood his role as shaping the story that was reported, rather than neutrally issuing information.

The role of papal spokesman underwent a major shift around 2006, the year after St. John Paul II died and Pope Benedict XVI was elected, with the appointment of Federico Lombardi, S.J., who represented the more neutral role some desired following Mr. Navarro-Valls. Father Lombardi’s key characteristic was precision, though some may have considered it “spin”: the Jesuit priest often issued “clarifications” of Pope Francis’ comments given during his freewheeling press conferences. 

Papal pressers had gotten more controlled over the course of John Paul II’s papacy, and Benedict XVI later adopted a system of having questions submitted in advance, following controversy over remarks about Catholic politicians who support abortion that he made during a 2007 flight to Brazil. 

In the Brazil case, the Vatican changed the transcript of the pope’s comments, something Father Lombardi admitted at the time that the Secretariat of State regularly did. (Father Lombardi, by the way, wrote a quite interesting review of another insider’s book on the transformation of Vatican communications under Pope Francis that’s worth checking out.)

Vatican communications, however, isn’t limited to the role of the spokesman or even the press office, and beginning in 2014, Francis drew together two commissions to review Vatican media and evaluate how its various communications entities might be combined into one cohesive office. 

That resulted in the creation of the Secretariat for Communication in 2015, headed by Msgr. Dario Viganò (no relation to the excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò). The transition was rough, if well-intended, Father Lombardi recalled in his book review:

It may well be said that this was a gigantic undertaking, and that it was obvious that many difficulties were encountered, not least because of the effort required of the large number of staff to respond to profound and rapid changes in their usual way of working, and often also in the actual workplace. 

Enthusiasm for positive changes – which was not lacking – was also accompanied by inevitable situations of unease and disorientation. It is safe to assume that this is a price to pay for any transformation that goes deep and marks a decisive break from the past, even at the cost of sacrificing a part of it.

Monsignor Viganò departed from his role shortly after the communications office was widely criticized for publishing digitally altered photos of a letter from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI endorsing a new book series that Benedict said he had not read. 

Within a few months, the office was renamed a “dicastery” (which Francis would later do for almost all Vatican offices), and Paolo Ruffini, who had held senior positions in Catholic and secular journalism, was named prefect, becoming the first layman to head any Vatican dicastery.

Meanwhile, after Father Lombardi’s retirement as Vatican spokesman (a shorthand title for the director of the Holy See Press Office) in 2016, the American journalist and Opus Dei numerary Greg Burke stepped into the role, with Spanish journalist Paloma García Ovejero as vice director. As veteran reporters themselves, they understood the needs of reporters covering the Vatican, but they ultimately resigned together on New Year’s Eve in 2018.  

America’s reporting from the time attributed the joint departure to “the fact that their vision and understanding of their role as spokespersons for Pope Francis and the Holy See, and of the role of the Vatican press office, was not fully shared within the Vatican.” Mr. Burke was succeeded, after an interim of six months under Alessandro Gisotti, by the current spokesman, Matteo Bruni; it is not clear if he will continue in his role under Ms. Alvarado.

While I have no special insights into the departures, it seems from my own observations of Vatican communications that one area of tension that could have been at play then—and that is certainly at play today—is between Vatican communications and the Vatican Secretariat of State, which exercises considerable oversight over messages that come out of the communications dicastery. 

Joaquín Navarro-Valls had been able to circumvent the powerful state department thanks to his one-on-one access to John Paul II, but no communications official has enjoyed such access since.

Meanwhile, as I referred to earlier, the communications dicastery is facing significant budget challenges. In 2021, Francis memorably visited the communications office and asked, live on air, whether the massive operation was actually drawing an audience commensurate with how much it cost, comparing it to “the mountain that gives birth to the mouse.” 

Three years later, he urged the dicastery’s leadership to cut spending.

With this recent history in mind, I think we can draw a few conclusions about the challenging situation that Ms. Alvarado is entering on Nov. 1. First is that some fundamental questions about the sustainability of the dicastery Francis reformed remain unsolved,which may be another way of saying that the reform itself remains unfinished.

Second, and relatedly, while Francis and previous popes have set out to modernize and professionalize Vatican communications by bringing in seasoned experts like Ms. Alvarado, it seems clear, following decades of this strategy, that putting a journalist in charge of communications can go only as far as the Vatican’s existing structures allow it to go. 

That is, the relationship between Vatican communications and the Secretariat of State urgently needs to be re-evaluated, balancing legitimate security and sensitivity needs (overseen by the state secretariat) with the need for timely and transparent dissemination of information.

Ms. Alvarado has stated that she did not apply for the job but was personally invited to consider the role by Pope Leo. 

The personal intervention by the pope may indicate that he is seeking closer collaboration; the question remains whether Leo intends to give Ms. Alvarado the access and institutional authority needed to resolve some of these issues, and if Ms. Alvarado, as an “outsider” to Vatican communications, will be able to overcome some of the institutional inertia that has kept these problems unresolved for so long.

Another apostolic visitor appointed to Medjugorje

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Francesco Cavina, retired bishop of Carpi, Italy, as Apostolic Visitor with special status to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Holy See Press Office announced on October 31, 2026. 

At this famous Marian shrine, one of the most popular in Europe, the Italian bishop succeeds his compatriot Bishop Aldo Cavalli, who is retiring.

The site has had an "apostolic visitor" since 2018, when Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the retired archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Poland, to that role. 

Archbishop Hoser had first gone to the Bosnian town as Francis' personal envoy, to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the site each year. 

The archbishop died in 2021 at age 78 of Covid, during the height of the pandemic in Poland.

Bishop Cavina is 71 years old and trained as a canonist. He previously worked in the Secretariat of State within the Section for Relations with States. 

Appointed Bishop of Carpi by Benedict XVI in 2011, he resigned in 2019 to put an end to serious tensions within the diocese, with Bishop Cavina being accused by some of exerting too much influence over local politics.

Bishop Aldo Cavalli, aged 80, has had a long career in the service of the Catholic Church. He has served notably as papal nuncio to Angola, Chile, Colombia, Malta, and the Netherlands. Pope Francis entrusted him with the role of special apostolic visitor to Medjugorje in 2021, some months after Archbishop Hoser's death.

A popular but controversial shrine

On September 19, 2024, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that it would authorize worship at the Medjugorje shrine, while explaining that any future "messages" from the alleged Marian apparitions would have to be approved before publication. 

This move to place the site under supervision brought to a close more than 40 years of controversy dating back to the first reported apparitions to six children in 1981.

The Medjugorje shrine, whose fame has spread throughout the world, has provoked conflicting views within the Catholic hierarchy. In addition to warnings from various local bishops – the site is situated within the Diocese of Mostar – an investigative commission set up during the pontificate of Benedict XVI had expressed reservations, particularly regarding the authenticity of the phenomenon and the personal lives of the so-called visionaries.

While the Catholic Church officially authorized pilgrimages in 2019, Pope Francis admitted his doubts about the idea of a Virgin Mary who resembles a "post office manager," supposedly showing up at the same time each day.

The visionaries of Medjugorje say they continue to receive apparitions of the Mother of Jesus to this day, some of them on a daily basis.