Easter Sunday - Resurrection of the Lord – “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing, 2026

 

Brothers and sisters,

Christ is risen! Happy Easter!

For centuries, the Church has joyfully sung of the event that is the origin and foundation of her faith: “Yes, Christ my hope is arisen / Christ indeed from death is risen / Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning” (Easter Sequence).

Easter is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of love over hatred. It is a victory that came at a very high price: Christ, the Son of the living God (cf. Mt 16:16), had to die — and die on a cross — after suffering an unjust condemnation, being mocked and tortured, and shedding all his blood. As the true immolated Lamb, he took upon himself the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29; 1 Pet 1:18–19) and thus freed us all — and with us, all creation — from the dominion of evil.

But how was Jesus able to be victorious? What is the strength with which he defeated once and for all the ancient adversary, the prince of this world (cf. Jn 12:31)? What is the power with which he rose from the dead, not returning to his former life, but entering into eternal life and thus opening in his own flesh the passage from this world to the Father?

This strength, this power, is God himself for he is Love who creates and generates, Love who is faithful to the end and Love who forgives and redeems.

Christ, our “victorious King,” fought and won his battle through trusting abandonment to the Father’s will, to his plan of salvation (cf. Mt 26:42). Thus he walked the path of dialogue to the very end, not in words but in deeds: to find us who were lost, he became flesh; to free us who were slaves, he became a slave; to give life to us mortals, he allowed himself to be killed on the cross.

The power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent. It is like that of a grain of wheat which, having rotted in the earth, grows, breaks through the clods, sprouts, and becomes a golden ear of wheat. It is even more like that of a human heart which, wounded by an offense, rejects the instinct for revenge and, filled with compassion, prays for the one who has committed the offense.

Brothers and sisters, this is the true strength that brings peace to humanity, because it fosters respectful relationships at every level: among individuals, families, social groups, and nations. It does not seek private interests, but the common good; it does not seek to impose its own plan, but to help design and carry out a plan together with others.

Yes, Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of a new humanity; it is the entrance into the true promised land, where justice, freedom, and peace reign, where all recognize one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father who is Love, Life, and Light.

Brothers and sisters, through his resurrection, the Lord confronts us even more powerfully with the dramatic reality of our freedom. Before the empty tomb, we can be filled with hope and wonder, like the disciples, or with fear like the guards and the Pharisees, forced to resort to lies and subterfuge rather than acknowledge that the one who had been condemned is truly risen (cf. Mt 28:11–15)!

In the light of Easter, let us allow ourselves to be amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us! Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!

We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel. 

There is an ever-increasing “globalization of indifference,” to borrow an expression dear to Pope Francis, who one year ago from this loggia addressed his final words to the world, reminding us: “What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of the world!” (Urbi et Orbi Message, 20 April 2025).

The cross of Christ always reminds us of the suffering and pain that surround death and the agony it entails. We are all afraid of death, and out of fear we turn away, preferring not to look. We cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil! Saint Augustine teaches: “If you fear death, love the resurrection!” (Sermon 124, 4). Let us too love the resurrection, which reminds us that evil is not the last word, because it has been defeated by the Risen One.

He passed through death to give us life and peace: “I leave you peace; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it, I give it to you” (Jn 14:27). The peace that Jesus gives us is not merely the silence of weapons, but the peace that touches and transforms the heart of each one of us! Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the peace of Christ! 

Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts! For this reason, I invite everyone to join me in a prayer vigil for peace that we will celebrate here in Saint Peter’s Square next Saturday, April 11.

On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil. 

To the Lord we entrust all hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only he can give. Let us entrust ourselves to him and open our hearts to him! He is the only one who makes all things new (cf. Rev 21:5).

Happy Easter!

EASTER SUNDAY “RESURRECTION OF THE LORD” - HOLY MASS DURING THE DAY

 

HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV

St Peter's Square

Easter Sunday, 5 April 2026

______________________

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today all of creation is resplendent with new light, a song of praise rises from the earth, and our hearts rejoice: Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life!

This Easter proclamation embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history, reaching us even in the depths of death, where we feel threatened and sometimes overwhelmed.  It opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away: death has been conquered forever; death no longer has power over us!

This is a message that is not always easy to accept, a promise that we struggle to embrace, because the power of death constantly threatens us, both from within and without.

From within, this power threatens us when the weight of our sins prevents us from “spreading our wings” and taking flight, or when the disappointments or loneliness we experience drain our hope.  It likewise looms over us when our worries or our resentments suffocate the joy of living, when we are sad or tired, or when we feel betrayed or rejected.  When we have to come to terms with our weakness, with the sufferings and the daily grind of life, we can feel as if we have ended up in a tunnel with no end in sight.

From without, death is always lurking.  We see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.  We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.

In this reality, the Passover of the Lord invites us to lift our gaze and open our hearts.  It continues to nourish the seed of the promised victory within our spirit and throughout the course of history.  It sets us in motion, like Mary Magdalene and the Apostles, so that we may discover that Jesus’ tomb is empty, and therefore in every death we experience there is also room for new life to arise. The Lord is alive and remains with us.  Through the cracks of resurrection that open up in the darkness, he entrusts our hearts to the hope that sustains us: the power of death is not the final destiny of our lives.  We are all directed, once and for all, on the path to fulfilment, because in Christ we also have risen.

With heartfelt words, Pope Francis reminded us of this in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, affirming that the resurrection of Christ “is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty.  But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit” (n. 276).

Brothers and sisters, Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day.  This is what today’s Gospel tells us, as it clearly describes the event of the resurrection as taking place on “the first day of the week” (Jn 20:1).  The day of Christ’s resurrection thus takes us back to that first day when God created the world, and at the same time proclaims that a new life, stronger than death, is now dawning for humanity.

Easter is the new creation brought about by the Risen Lord; it is a new beginning; it is life finally made eternal by God’s victory over the ancient enemy.

We need this song of hope today.  It is ourselves, risen with Christ, who must bring him into the streets of the world.  Let us then run like Mary Madgalene, announcing him to everyone, living out the joy of the resurrection, so that wherever the specter of death still lingers, the light of life may shine.

May Christ, our Passover, bless us and give his peace to the whole world!

Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran at the Easter Vigil 2026

Mrs. Hogan came to see me one night about two weeks after her husband’s funeral. 

She had a question. “Where is Richard now?”, she asked me. 

She went on tho explain that, when she went to visit the grave, she knew his body was there, “but that was not him”. 

I suppose she was rebelling against the reality of death, which separates the soul from the body to which it naturally belongs.

We don’t know what was going through the minds of the two Mary’s as they made their way to the tomb of Jesus early that Sunday morning. That had seen Jesus die, and there was no doubt about his death. Now, coming to anoint his body, was the only way they knew to be close to him. 

But they found the stone rolled back and the body gone. There are no witnesses to what happened during the hours of darkness, other than an angel who tells them “He is not here. He is risen as he said, and he has gone before you into Galilee.”

St. Matthew tells us very simply about how Jesus appeared to the women on their way back to Jerusalem, and they took hold of his feet. He told them not to be afraid. 

Some of the other evangelists go into greater detail and, while it was clear from all the accounts that this was the same Jesus they had known and loved, he was different in some way, so that they didn’t immediately recognise him. Mary of Magdala didn’t know him until he spoke her name. 

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus only recognised him when he sat at table with them.

So what did happen between Friday and Sunday? I think it might be helpful if we remember the final moments of Jesus’ earthly life. 

The Gospel tells us that: “breathing his last, he gave up the spirit”. He was a dead as anybody in Sligo Cemetery. The only difference was that, in the case of Jesus, the spirit that he gave up was not just a human soul, it was the Holy Spirit. 

Sometime early on Sunday morning that same Spirit, which is the power of God and which never died, was powerfully reunited with the dead body of Jesus, and he was raised to life. He was not just raised like Lazarus, back to the way he was before; He was raised up in glory.

The physical body was transformed into a spiritual body, which was no longer limited by the laws of science, but which He could, and did, allow people to see with their human eyes, when he chose to do so.

Everything we are as Christians depends on the fact that Jesus died and is risen. St Paul wrote to the people of Corinth “if Christ is not risen, your faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). 

The Resurrection speaks powerfully about the Father’s faithful love for Jesus, but it was not just something God the Father did for Jesus. St. Paul tells us: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also”. 

The first Christians believed the evidence of the two women and of the Apostles, that Jesus had risen, but they found it difficult to see how this might also apply to them. 

The people of Corinth wanted to know “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” Perhaps we struggle with that too. We wonder how we will look, whether our arthritis will be gone and, of course, whether we will recognise one another.

St. Paul clearly believed that there would be a Resurrection of the body at the end of time, when “what is buried in weakness will rise up in power”(1 Cor 15). This is what Christians have professed in the Creed, week after week, since the Council of Jerusalem in 50 AD. “We believe in the Resurrection of the Body and life ever lasting”. 

But St. Paul, while sharing that faith, recognised that we do not need to wait until the last day to share in the risen life of Jesus. Christians, in whom the Spirit of Jesus lives, through Baptism, are already living the new life of the Resurrection. 

Let me try to unpack that for you by taking a quick look at the other readings we have heard this evening.

The Book of Genesis speaks to us of the creation of the universe, and the formation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God. Woman and man were created for relationship with one another and ultimately for relationship with God. 

As we read on in the Book of Genesis, we hear how that likeness with God is obscured by sin. Paradise becomes a “valley of tears”, because humanity chose not to live according the God’s plan.

If we go then to the Reading from the Book of Exodus, the story begins with the Hebrew people living as slaves under an oppressive regime in Egypt. Slavery, even today, is one of the fruits of a sinful and disordered world. 

But God has compassion on his people and, through Moses, he leads them into freedom, teaching them humility, and making a new Covenant with them in the wilderness. As a mark of his love he gives them commandments, as wisdom for their lives.

When we get to the prophet Isaiah, we find that the people have not been faithful to the Covenant, and they are called back into right relationship with God. Water is a symbol of life, and they are invited to “come to the water” and to drink freely of it. 

“Pay attention, come to me; listen and your soul will live.” That passage from Isaiah ends with a proclamation of the power of God’s Word which “does not return empty” but carries out God’s will and succeeds in what it was sent to do.

There were Holy people in Old Testament times but, in order to undo the damage caused by sin, humanity needed a Saviour who was completely above sin. We see this in Jesus, who is “the Word made flesh” or, as St. Paul describes him “the image of the invisible God and the perfect copy of his nature”. 

The whole life of Jesus, culminating in his death on the cross, is a perfect response to God’s love.

This is where our New Testament reading from the Letter to the Romans comes in. Already, by the time Paul was writing, the liturgy of Baptism was well established as the first stage of Christianity Initiation. 

It was the gateway to all the Sacraments. The normal practice was that the person being Baptised was lowered fully into the water, and then lifted up again, as a Christian. 

In our reading today, St. Paul sees this as a symbol of dying and rising, and explains that, in Baptism, we die to the old self, and rise with the new life of God. 

This leads him to say: “If in union with Christ, we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his Resurrection”. 

Just as Christ died and rose, and can never die again, so we must think of ourselves as “dead to sin, but alive for God in Christ Jesus”.

So dear bothers, we who are already Baptised, and you who will be Baptised on this Holy night, this is both our vocation and our mission, to live in Jesus. 

In the future, some day, we will die and our bodies will lie in the grave, but only until our spiritual souls, united with his Spirit, are reunited with our bodies and raised up in glory. 

In the meantime, just as Jesus laid down his life every day in prayer and service, so we are called to die to self and to live in Christ each day of our lives. 

In that, we will be strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we receive in Confirmation, and nourished by the Eucharist, which some of you will receive for the first time tonight. 

In that Eucharist we are drawn into communion with Christ and with one another, as members of his body.

I finish with a Collect prayer which comes from the Mass of Christmas Day and, in a sense, makes the connection for us between the human birth of Jesus with the new life of the Resurrection, in which we all share.

O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature

and still more wonderfully restored it,

grant, we pray,

that we may share in the divinity of Christ,

who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Denial of a vocation to women isn’t just ‘discomfort’, it is spiritual abuse

On Easter morning, the Risen Christ chose to appear first to Mary of Magdala. He commissioned her as his representative and spokesperson to “Go and tell” the Good News to the others.

Mary of Magdala is the first apostle, the “Apostle to the apostles”. So how is it women are still excluded from all ordained ministries in the Catholic Church?

Fifty years ago I was a student in Trinity College, agonising over a calling to the priesthood (presbyteral ministry). At the same time in Rome, Pope Paul VI was shutting down debate on the opening of the ordained ministries to women. He asked the Pontifical Biblical Commission (of 20, including two male clerics) to study what was deemed a new question: Can women be priests?

In April 1976 the commission’s unanimous conclusion was that the New Testament by itself didn’t settle the possible accession of women to the presbyterate.

The commission’s report was never published. We know of its deliberations only because its findings were leaked. A few months later, Paul VI declared, in his Inter Insigniores document, “The church does not consider herself authorised to admit women to priestly ordination.”

Lacking convincing theological arguments, it devolved to his successor Pope John Paul II to quash the issue, with Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994.

Pope Francis called a Global Synod in 2021 for Catholics to listen to the Spirit in each other and to speak boldly. For many, this process of discernment of what the Spirit was saying to the Church included asking again about women’s ordination.

The issue of women deacons and priests surfaced in all dioceses in Ireland and in many other countries despite some attempts to filter it out as a settled immutable doctrine.

Last month, on March 10th, the Vatican released the Report of the Study Group on The Participation of Women in the Life and Leadership of the Church. As I read it, one word jarred. Repeated over and over, it caused me to stare in disbelief. “Discomfort”, as in: “some women experience discomfort in the church”.

Discomfort! Such a mild, safe word. No mention of pain, of suffering, of wounding. Discomfort is a word I have never used to describe the reality of my situation in the church, nor have I ever heard it from other women.

I remember a newspaper article headline to an interview I gave: “The agony of a vocation denied to women,” it read. This reflected much more accurately my reality.

Did any of the writers of this report read Out of the Depths about Ludmila Javorova? In 1970 she was ordained a priest by a Catholic bishop as part of the underground church in the then Czechoslovakia when that country was under Soviet rule and it seemed all but certain that Catholicism would be erased.

The denial of a vocation is not to experience “discomfort”. It is a severe wounding. I have described it as a crucifixion in a painting and a poem.

When Saint Thérèse of Lisieux spoke of her death at 24 as God sparing her the pain of not being able to be ordained, she was not talking of “discomfort”.

When the clerical child sexual abuse and cover up scandal first surfaced, we heard again and again from church leaders that they “didn’t realise how harmful it was to the children”.

To use the word “discomfort” is to do something similar: it denies and minimises the profound harm done to women by what is a form of spiritual abuse.

To speak of women’s “discomfort” serves only to preserve the comfort of those responsible for a disgraceful situation which cries to Heaven for justice and remediation. There is little incentive and no great urgency when all that is at stake is a “discomfort” for women.

A Monsignor once asked me: “Surely the pain isn’t that bad?” All he wanted was to be reassured he didn’t really have to take responsibility. He is not the only one.

In a recent interview, Bishop of Down and Connor Alan McGuckian was asked about women who felt they are treated as second-class citizens in the church. He denied they were and added, as proof: “I didn’t consider my mother a second-class citizen, nor did she consider herself one.”

Obviously the feedback from so many women in the synodal process counts for nothing. He was adamant women would never be ordained. And then there is the bishop who said, “It’s above my pay grade.”

To all the churchmen who exhort us to be endlessly patient, I say: Where is your courage, when what is at stake is a matter of justice, of credibility of the church and faithfulness to the Gospel?

The Irish Synodal Pathway will hold its National Assembly on October 17th next, the feast day of St Soline, whose name I bear: a reminder that God calls us by name, not by gender. Now is the time, the kairos. What comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped. Christ is risen and women are rising.

Soline Humbert is a spiritual director and the author of A Divine Calling: One Woman’s Life-Long Battle for Equality in the Catholic Church, (2025, The Liffey Press)

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

San Sebastián experienced its first procession this Good Friday after 60 years

San Sebastián has experienced this Good Friday the public presence of faith with the procession from the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, putting an end to nearly six decades without religious manifestations in the city’s streets. 

The celebration, driven by a group of faithful, marks a significant event in a context of strong secularization.

The procession began at 20:30 hours, after the liturgical offices, in an atmosphere of recollection. 

The sound of the rattle - which replaces the silence of the bells during these days - announced the departure of the procession, which toured the city center with the participation of numerous faithful.

A route marked by silence and prayer

The itinerary passed through the main streets of the center - Buen Pastor square, Urdaneta, Hondarribia, San Martín, Getaria, Avenida de la Libertad, Churruca and Gipuzkoa square, where a prayer station took place before returning to the Cathedral. 

Throughout the route, the attendees maintained an attitude of respect, many of them carrying candles as a sign of participation.

The procession was led by the Guide Cross and the banner of the Brotherhood, followed by children in Hebrew attire and the txistularis band. 

Then advanced the nazarenos, the step of the Nazarene with the Veronica, the symbols of the Passion and the image of the Recumbent Christ. 

In the final stretch, the Three Marys and the Solitude preceded the clergy and the music band.

A tradition re-established from the base

Beyond the development of the event, what is relevant is its recovery after decades of absence. 

It is not an institutional initiative, but the drive of faithful who have considered it necessary to reestablish a tradition rooted in the city’s religious life.

This event is inscribed in a broader context in which, in different places, an attempt is perceived to recover visible expressions of faith that had been relegated or disappeared.

A sign that challenges

The celebration of this procession demonstrates that, even in strongly secularized environments, faith does not disappear completely, but remains, sometimes in a silent form, waiting to be rekindled.

The Good Friday procession in San Sebastián is not only the result of human effort, but a sign that grace continues to act in the midst of the Church, even where everything seemed to have been relegated.

Two nuns who abused children at Glasgow children's home avoid jail sentences

A nun from Dublin who subjected children as young as three to physical abuse at a Scottish children's home has avoided a prison sentence.

Dubliner Marie O'Gorman, 79, had previously pleaded guilty alongside Scot Mary McGuire, 68, for being responsible for the maltreatment of seven children under their care at Nazareth House in Cardonald, Glasgow, from 1975 to 1981. 

Both women appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to multiple charges in February.

O'Gorman, known to the children as Sister Mary Aelred, joined the Sisters of Nazareth congregation in 1963 and was assigned to care for groups of 10 to 12 children. During her tenure, she abused three children aged between three and 11 years old, reports the Daily Record.

The court heard how she repeatedly assaulted the young children with various objects, including a harness, slipper, and belt. One child was singled out by O'Gorman, who would force her to stand in a cold bath and douse her with water if she wet the bed.

Further humiliation was inflicted upon the child by making her wear a nappy while parading in front of others. The nun also abused a second child while he was bathing. McGuire, known as Sister Maria Bernadette to the children, entered the congregation in 1975.

She confessed to abusing five children, aged between five and 12, striking them with items such as a slipper, a leather belt, and a wooden hairbrush. In one particularly violent incident, a child sustained an injury after being hit in the eye with a belt buckle, resulting in a bruise.

Both nuns received probation orders on Wednesday (March 25). McGuire, from Fife, was placed under supervision for two years and instructed to complete 225 hours of unpaid work over the coming 12 months.

O'Gorman, from Dublin, was similarly placed under supervision for the same duration. Each woman was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to every one of their victims.

This marks the most recent case of historical abuse involving nuns from the Sisters of Nazareth order. Carol Buirds, 75, was sentenced in January along with Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, for the horrific abuse of children that occurred at two homes in Lasswade and Kilmarnock between 1972 and 1981.

Buirds, from Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for 15 months. McElhinney, from Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, received a 12-month Probation Order and was instructed to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.

Procurator Fiscal Fraser Gibson, from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, stated: "Marie O'Gorman and Mary McGuire were trusted to care for vulnerable children who had almost no support and relied entirely on the adults around them for safety and compassion. Instead of offering that care, they caused them profound and lasting harm. It is now a matter of public record that, while working at Nazareth House, both individuals gravely abused the authority and trust placed in them

"Their offending may have taken place several decades ago, but this type of abuse has never been acceptable and should not have happened.

"The Crown treats all allegations of non‐recent child abuse with the utmost seriousness, and no matter how much time has passed, we remain committed to ensuring survivors are heard and perpetrators held accountable."

Nuns who broke back into their Austrian convent ‘are step closer to being able to stay’

Three nuns who escaped from a care home to return to their convent in a castle close to Salzburg where they had spent most of their lives are a step closer to being able to stay there, sources close to them say.

Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita, who are in their early to late eighties, broke into their convent home in Elsbethen last September with the help of former pupils of the Catholic school at which they had taught and other supporters. Their case became a cause célèbre, attracting attention from around the world.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), a Vatican department in charge of religious discipline in the Catholic church, has yet to officially decide on the women’s fate and could still take months to do so. However, plans to bring them to Rome are thought to be a positive sign in the nuns’ favour, bringing the row about their future closer to a resolution.

An aide close to the nuns told Austrian media that the Vatican was “in principle” in favour of giving the sisters the right to remain in their convent. However, its official ruling is still outstanding.

The sisters have been fighting a campaign by their superior, who accused them of breaking their “vow of obedience” by leaving the care home into which they were moved in 2023. Provost Markus Grasl, from the nearby Reichersberg Abbey, had said that the convent was no longer suitable for the nuns owing to several flights of stone stairs and other conditions “too precarious” for their advancing ages.

The trio say they were sent to the care home against their will and they wish to die at their convent, housed in the imposing Schloss Goldenstein, citing the church law of stabilitas loci: the vow of permanence a person entering a holy order is expected to make in return for the commitment towards them from the church.

Local helpers have provided them with round the clock care and security, including refitting locks that had been changed in their absence and reinstalling a stair lift that had been removed.

The nuns, who are of the Augustinian order, had appealed to Pope Leo XIV, a fellow Augustinian, to intervene on their behalf.

To what extent he has involved himself in their case is unclear. But church insiders say he has been made aware of their plight.

Thanks to a donation said to have been made by a private individual or a group of persons who wish to remain anonymous, the nuns are due to travel to Rome within the next two months, accompanied by medical staff, and are expected to have an audience with the pontiff.

A spokesperson for them told the Austrian broadcaster ORF: “The three nuns are very happy to be able to travel to Rome. They have never been there before and the journey will be something quite special for them.”

Andreas Englisch, a prominent German Vatican-watcher, said in his weekly podcast Vatikangeflüster (Vatican Whispering) that a “generous” donor or donors based in Rome had contacted him directly, but he did not know, or would not divulge, their identity.

He said he believed the nuns could expect a private audience with Pope Leo. “I am sure that he will want to receive them,” he said.

The nuns built up a considerable following on Instagram and Facebook, posting clips from their daily lives including proof of their fitness to stay in their convent. The posts had helped keep their situation in the limelight. But they reduced their social media output at the end of last year in agreement with the Vatican on the understanding, it has been reported, that this would help their chances of staying in the convent.

The request came in response to a letter the nuns had written to the Vatican in which they had complained of their treatment by Grasl and the Reichersberg foundation, which part owns the convent building with the archdiocese of Salzburg.

Through aides, they told Austrian media they had received an answer in which they were informed that the Dicastery was “working to find a just, humane, and sustainable solution” to end the row. In return they were asked to “seek inner peace and reflection in the spirit of seclusion”.

The nuns thanked the public for their sympathy and support at the time, insisting that without the media attention they would have been “helplessly exposed to the ruthlessness and arbitrariness of our superior”.

Light in the Darkness: An Easter Message of Hope from Archbishop Eamon Martin

The theme of “light in the darkness” is at the centre of our Easter readings and celebrations. 

As the new Paschal Candle is lit from the Easter fire outside and carried into the church, these profound and hopeful words are spoken:

“May the light of Christ rising in glory
dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds”.

Lumen Christi! Deo Gratias! The Light of Christ! Thanks be to God! 

In recent months, dark clouds of war and violence have overshadowed the coming of spring and the promise of hope that springtime naturally brings into the world. Although from this distance we cannot hear the bombs and sirens of warfare from the Middle East or Ukraine, the distressing impact of conflict ripples around the world with escalating prices and volatile markets, and a creeping sense of despair.

Proponents of so-called “modern warfare” try to tell us that attacks can be clinical and contained, but that’s an illusion. We are deceiving ourselves to think that the ongoing use of rockets and bombs in built up areas, or the destruction of essential infrastructure, roads, bridges, water and fuel stations does anything other than spread fear and terror among innocent, civilian populations. Let us be clear: war currupts and depresses. War is ‘a defeat for humanity’.

All the more reason then for us to “hold on to hope”, this Easter. This is the Christian season of “darkness into light”, of “the Hope that does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5).

It is of course hard to find Hope in the rubble of a bombed hospital or school, or in the frightened eyes of a displaced family who have lost everything they own, or in the tears of those whose loved ones have been killed through acts of violence.

But the promise of Easter is that the Risen Christ defeated the darkness of evil on the Hill of Calvary. That Good News is needed this year more than ever, and it is our mission as Christians to make it known. Pope Benedict XVI once said Easter declares “History is not in the hands of dark forces, of chance, or of merely human choices. The Lord, (who is) the supreme arbiter of historical events, rises above the discharge of evil energies.”

Although it was very early in the morning and still dark when the women came to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of Jesus, an angel bathed in light says to them, ‘There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would.” The women, who had come to the tomb in sadness and grief, run quickly away, filled with joy and hope, to share the Good News with the others.

As Easter people here in Ireland, despite the temptation to be overcome by the darkness of despair and give up on peace, let us also be witnesses for the Risen Christ in these days, speaking and spreading the Easter promise of love, forgiveness, healing, reconciliation and the hope of a new springtime.

Peace be with you. Beannachtaí agus Síocháin na Cásca oraibh go léir.

Happy Easter.

+ Archbishop Eamon Martin 

Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland

Pope endorses Eucharistic adoration and Latin Mass

Just days after a leading member of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) dismissed the ancient practice of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament as “of the past”, Pope Leo has urged young people to make time for Eucharistic adoration as part of the path to living a fulfilled life.

Writing in his message for Vocations Sunday, which was released by the Vatican on March 25, Pope Leo addressed young people who are considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

The Holy Father writes: “Listen to the voice of the Lord who invites you to a full and fruitful life, calling you to put your talents to use and to unite your limitations and weaknesses with the glorious cross of Christ.

“Make time, then, for Eucharistic adoration; meditate faithfully on the Word of God, so that you may put it into practice each day; and participate actively and fully in the sacramental and ecclesial life of the Church. In this way, you will come to know the Lord,” Pope Leo writes in the message for Good Shepherd Sunday, which this year falls on April 26.

It comes as parishes and vocations directors across the country have credited Eucharistic adoration as a key part of helping young people deepen their spirituality, and for some, discover a call to the priesthood or religious life.

Meanwhile, Pope Leo has pleaded with bishops to “generously include” Catholics who are devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass.

Many traditionalist Catholics, who are attracted to the pre-Vatican II liturgy often known as the Tridentine Mass – have complained about feeling excluded under Pope Francis.

It came after the Argentine Pontiff imposed severe restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass, the rules around which had been relaxed previously by Pope Benedict XVI, which had led to the growth of Latin Mass communities in several areas.

Roman Canon increasingly absent from the Masses celebrated by the Pope

The progressive displacement of the Roman Canon in pontifical celebrations has become an observable fact that can no longer be interpreted as mere contingency. 

Under the pontificate of Leo XIV, the systematic choice of modern Eucharistic Prayers -mespecially the III - confirms a stable preference for the texts introduced after the liturgical reform of 1968, to the detriment of the venerable Canon that for centuries constituted the invariable core of the Roman rite.

This is not an isolated episode nor a one-off choice conditioned by pastoral circumstances. 

The reiteration in contexts of maximum solemnity, such as Palm Sunday, reveals a consolidated pattern: the Roman Canon has ceased to be the ordinary reference even in those moments when its theological density and symbolic weight would be most coherent with the celebratory content. 

Instead, more recent formulas are chosen, with a simpler structure and more agile execution, whose genesis responds to pastoral criteria proper to the second half of the 20th century.

This displacement is not neutral. 

The Roman Canon is not simply one more prayer among other possible ones, but the historical expression of the lex orandi of the Roman rite, with an organic development that refers back to the first centuries of the Latin Church. 

Its sacrificial language, its austere sobriety, and its continuity make it a privileged witness to the liturgical tradition. Replacing it with prayers of recent composition implies, in fact, an alteration in the very perception of liturgical continuity.

The preference for modern Eucharistic Prayers therefore suggests a certain way of understanding the liturgy: less anchored in the reception of a received tradition and more oriented toward celebratory functionality. 

The result is a practice in which the Roman Canon, far from occupying the central place that would correspond to it by its own nature, is relegated to an increasingly exceptional presence.

The pontifical practice, in this sense, is not irrelevant. Although it does not establish a legal norm by itself, it does exercise a paradigmatic function. 

What the Pope celebrates habitually ends up configuring, de facto, the horizon of what is perceived as ordinary or preferable. 

And in that horizon, today, the Roman Canon appears increasingly absent.

«Mediator Dei»: they launch a plea to Pope Leo XIV to halt sanctions against the FSSPX

A group of laypeople has launched a public appeal addressed to Pope Leo XIV to request that he suspend the planned sanctions against the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X in the context of the episcopal consecrations announced for July 1, 2026. 

The initiative, disseminated through the website Mediator Dei, arises at a time of growing tension in the face of the possibility of a new clash with Rome.

The text adopts a clearly filial tone, but does not hide the underlying concern. Its promoters recall that, in a context of de-Christianization and ecclesial crisis, Tradition “has been the refuge” for many souls, and they ask the Pope to listen to “the call” of the faithful who wish to remain in it. 

The petition insists on a central idea: continuity with the faith of always, emphasizing that Monsignor Lefebvre “invented nothing”, but defended what was received over centuries, and that this fidelity cannot be considered disobedience or rupture.

The appeal is formulated clearly: it requests the Pontiff to “suspend” the planned sanctions against the FSSPX, thus avoiding a new episode of tension around the episcopal consecrations. 

At the same time, it introduces a direct appeal to the Pope in a spiritual key, citing the Gospel of Saint Luke: “What father, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?”, an image with which the signatories ask for a response that is not punitive in nature.

The initiative, open to public signatures, reflects an unease that goes beyond specialized circles and points to a concrete fear: that Rome’s response will once again focus on the sanction. 

A few months before the scheduled date for the consecrations, the issue remains open and capable of rekindling a wound that, for many faithful, has never fully healed.

Pope Leo XIV’s Personal Secretary: "He Hasn’t Changed; He’s Still the Same" Since His Time in Peru

Peruvian priest Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, personal secretary to Pope Leo XIV, said the Holy Father “hasn’t changed” since his years as a bishop in Peru and is still approachable, serene, and possesses a great capacity for listening.

In an interview with the Spanish media outlet Alfa and Omega, the priest, who first met the pontiff when their paths crossed in Chiclayo, Peru, emphasized that despite his new responsibilities, the pope “remains the same.”

“The only things that have changed are his attire, which is now white, and his responsibilities; otherwise, the man we have all come to know remains exactly the same: approachable, calm, an excellent listener, and always available,” he said.

A discreet service alongside the pope

Rimaycuna explained that his role as personal secretary consists of accompanying the Holy Father in his daily life and ensuring he has the necessary time and space for rest.

“It means working alongside a friend, in my particular case, and also serving as the one who assists him in his daily work and protects him, so he is able to carry out his duties in a peaceful atmosphere,” he noted.

The priest also said his role is defined by discretion, in which the spotlight always remains on the pope.

“No one teaches you how to be the pope’s secretary, because it’s an assignment that comes upon you quite suddenly,” he remarked, explaining that he has found inspiration in St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist.

He highlighted St. Joseph’s silence and his capacity to remain in the background and St. John the Baptist’s attitude of humility, expressed in the phrase: “It is fitting that I decrease and that he increase.”

“I believe that these are the two images that summarize the mission, the task, of a secretary: to take second place, and for the other person to be the center of attention,” he noted.

Latin American warmth in the pontificate

Rimaycuna also said the pope’s experience in Latin America has shaped his style of governance, particularly in his closeness to people.

“In Latin America, we are accustomed to physical closeness, close contact,” he explained, noting that this characteristic is reflected by the pontiff in particular ways, such as “offering a greeting, smiling, offering a word of encouragement, or making a small gesture.”

Some observers perceive Leo’s pontificate as reserved, and Rimaycuna confirmed that this reservedness is part of the pope’s personality: “He is reserved because that is simply his nature — always prudent, calm, and patient — but his years in Peru have also helped him maintain that closeness with the people.”

In this regard, he added that the pope manages to integrate “prudence and practicality” with the “cordial, approachable, and affectionate” gestures characteristic of Latin America.

On the apostolic journey to Spain

Regarding the upcoming apostolic journey to Spain, the pope’s personal secretary noted that its primary significance will lie in the closeness of the shepherd to his flock.

He also highlighted that the Holy Father seeks to acknowledge Spain’s historical contribution to the Church.

“Throughout history, Spain has been characterized as a land that has produced many saints,” he stated, emphasizing that the trip would also serve as a gesture of “gratitude for all that Spain has given to the world and to the Church in terms of faith and Christian life.”

Easter Greetings from Bishop Michael (Galway & Clonfert)

The Willy Wonka of the Catholic Church: Inside the Kylemore Abbey chocolate kitchen

Sr Genevieve might well be the Catholic Church’s answer to Willy Wonka, having turned what once seemed an impossible dream — opening her own chocolate factory — into reality.

Six years on, and the Benedictine nun’s kitchen at Kylemore Abbey in Connemara is a whirlwind of activity as chef Veronica Davin churns out the nun’s signature “lucky lambs” and luxury chocolate boxes. 

Easter is their busiest time of year but Sr Genevieve Harrington isn’t fazed. More importantly, she still finds plenty of time for reflection in line with the order’s “work to pray” principle, which aims to eliminate idleness while maintaining moderation. 

Raised on a sheep farm in the Australian Outback, Sr Genevieve has enjoyed a colourful life. 

She had been involved in missionary work in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and nursing in Tangier, Morocco, before studying chocolate-making in Connemara. It was here she discovered her second calling in life. 

In recent years, the chocolate kitchen has embraced nuns and volunteers from all over the world who are keen to learn the art. Sr Genevieve hopes the tradition can continue for as long as possible. 

She admits some were initially sceptical about her idea to transform their old home economics room into a chocolate kitchen back in 2010. It followed the closure of Kylemore Abbey School — a secondary school for girls — six years earlier.

Sr Genevieve first trained in artisanal chocolate, honing her craft with handmade bars and honeycomb.

“I got my inspiration from this chocolatier in Kerry who I did a course with. The challenge was to make it in commercial quantities and make it a commercial product. I was greeted with scepticism at first,” admits Sr Genevieve. 

I don’t think people expected much but, bit by bit, they saw the possibilities. There wasn’t any fancy equipment so we knew it would have to stay small, allowing us to work within our means. 

"First we had one machine, then we had two. It started getting bigger and bigger. I started producing and packing and we even got machines. The secret is making really good chocolate because that’s what keeps people coming back. 

"Everything was upgraded from what it had before — and we even had a packing room.” 

The nun’s chocolate business is just one of the activities that keeps her young at heart.

“Old age is wonderful. I’ll be 80 in July. I never grow sick of chocolate but as you grow older your taste buds change. I haven’t had much during Lent at all but I might have some over Easter. 

"Chocolate has always been part of my life. I can remember going to the pictures when I was a child. My favourite sweets to get was a white chocolate frog. It must have been on my mind because when I went back to Australia I was looking for moulds for chocolate with my sister. I wanted to get one of the frogs but she set me straight and told me it had to be a chocolate sheep.” 

Sr Genevieve has an unconventional approach to customer service, even if the majority of feedback is positive.

“I did receive a letter one time from a man who was most unimpressed with a peppermint chocolate. We took it very seriously as we do any issue that someone might have with our product. His main concern was that the filling was too ordinary. We refunded him and sent him extra chocolate. Then he came to visit, telling us, 'Now, that’s the way to handle a complaint'. He has since become a good friend of ours and he has even given us some archival material related to Kylemore Abbey.

"We have to thank people for the feedback they give us because we learn a lot from it. The reaction we get is very positive. I’m told that everyone likes caramel chocolate, which is a credit to Veronica’s hard work.” 

Sr Genevieve is referring to head chocolatier Veronica Davin, who returns the compliment, telling the Irish Examiner about the special bond she has with Sr Genevieve.

“We get on really well and I absolutely love working with her,” she said. “She is very funny and has a great personality. I’ve been here for six years, having worked as a chef for 20. I knew there had to be more to life than working in a kitchen, which is why I decided to come here. I had made chocolate before but not like this. Here it all has to be tempered and there is a lot more to it.” 

Veronica underwent extensive training to perfect her craft.

“I went to Belgium to learn how chocolate was made, which was an unreal experience. I learned how to control the machine and the different ways to make the chocolate. I learned so much about chocolate, from different fillings to luxury boxes. Making chocolate is very rewarding. I love seeing it on the shelf and creating the fillings. It’s also nice to see the chocolate do so well.” 

People love watching Veronica at work in the kitchen.

We give out a certain number of golden tickets which gives people the chance to come in and see how chocolate is made in the kitchen. Everyone wants to work here. There’s never any trouble finding people to test the product. 

"I never dreamt that I would be making chocolate but I was lucky enough to get the job after applying. What I do is so totally different.” 

Sr Genevieve and her team also enjoy making luxury soap. “This is also going very well,” she says. 

“It’s very much hands on. People love working with their hands once they get used to it. We have bath soaps and Kylemore Abbey garden soap as well as soap we made during covid containing peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea-tree antiseptic. 

"Recently, I’ve been experimenting with glycerine, which is a new venture for me. This is just a novelty at the moment but it is rather fun. However, nothing beats ordinary soap with lard and fat and ingredients like that.”

‘I have yet to tell my father’: New Catholics on converting to the church this Easter

Mario Durán Domínguez decided to become Catholic a year ago.

The 39-year-old native of Madrid in Spain, who has been living in Ireland for more than four years and leads bus tours for Spanish-speaking tourists across the island, suffered a personal tragedy in his life.

“I suffered a big loss because I lost one of my best friends, and that’s why I decided to become Catholic because then I felt very weak. He was one of my best friends and killed himself in Spain,” he says.

He received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist in the church during the Easter vigil.

Durán Domínguez is one of 129 non-Catholics who attended the 2026 “rite of election” ceremony – part of the process of converting to Catholicism – at St Mary’s Cathedral, formerly the Pro Cathedral, in Dublin city centre where their intention to become Catholic was acknowledged by Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell.

About half of the 129 were members of other Christian denominations (“candidates”), while the remainder (“catechumens”) had belonged to other faiths or none.

Each was accompanied at the ceremony by a sponsor, priests and parishioners from their home parishes in Dublin, as well as family and friends.

Durán Domínguez says his background is “not at all” Catholic. His parents were raised Catholics – born in the 1950s, when in the Spain controlled by dictator Franco, it was mandatory to be Catholic.

“They developed an animosity to the Catholic Church, as did many people then. It’s why they weren’t Catholic. They decided not to baptise me,” says Durán Domínguez, the eldest of three.

His “quest” began when he was 15, as he “experienced a lack of meaning” then. He tried to become Catholic in Spain “but my parents were opposed and there was nobody to support me”.

Today in Spain “an awakening is taking place at this moment”, he says.

“Many people want to be Catholic again and I think my parents are reverting. Many young people are becoming Catholic as well, so things are changing because when I left Spain things weren’t like that.”

He came to Ireland “maybe because it’s a Catholic country”; his father claimed the Irish would “force you to convert”, reflecting his antagonism towards the church.

“He has a big animosity against the Catholic Church because of his own experience. I don’t blame him,” Durán Domínguez says.

In June 2025 Durán Domínguez contacted Siobhan Gormally, a parish pastoral worker in St Peter and St Paul’s parish in Balbriggan, and began his journey to becoming Catholic.

Joy Adedokun (24), from Balbriggan, is another person converting to Catholicism. She comes from a staunchly Pentecostal background.

“I was more into serving people rather than having a keen one-to-one relationship with God. That was what I was missing. I wasn’t too happy with that at all,” she says.

With a masters in law from UCD, Adedokun works as a special needs assistant in a school while also studying to become a solicitor.

“In the Pentecostal Church we have a very negative view towards the Catholic Church, which is not true,” she says.

She carried out some research and called the parish in Balbriggan last August. “I just wanted to know more about the church,” she says.

She recalled how “from once I left the Pentecostal Church I would always find myself going to the church here in Balbriggan and I was really confused as to why I would feel an immense sense of peace”.

She would “always question myself as to why I was there”. From her own research she found her preconception of the Catholic Church was “just not right” and stemmed “from other people such as my parents”.

Meeting Gormally in Balbriggan parish, she felt “very welcome” – “like a new window was opened” – and she found herself “more in tune with my true self, being more me”.

As a child, Adedokun attended St Peter’s and St Paul’s primary school in Balbriggan as well as Balbriggan Community College at secondary level before going on to UCD. She thought the Catholic primary school education was “beautiful” but “felt very isolated” when told she could not receive First Holy Communion.

“My mother said it was not our belief, that it was something I couldn’t participate in as we don’t follow that way of things,” she says, though her mother did add: “Perhaps when you are older.”

Her mother was “very surprised” when Adedokun decided to become a Catholic; she says she felt “my heart drawn to this”.

“She said she would never have believed that I would have even considered becoming a Catholic,” she says of her mother. “It wasn’t a negative response, but rather a surprising one.”

Adedokun’s brother and two sisters were also “surprised and confused”. “They didn’t understand but now are more accepting,” she says.

Gormally, who studied theology and psychology as well as religion and education, says people who wish to become Catholics may undertake a course of “a year to three years” – depending on the person. On average, preparations to become fully initiated into the church take about a year.

The people come from “all sorts of backgrounds”, says Gormally.

Of the six people who will be fully initiated into the Catholic Church in St Peter and St Paul’s tomorrow night, one is of a no-faith background. Another is a woman from Mauritius, and her daughter, who has an Irish father. One convert is of an eastern European background, while another is from South Africa where her extended family are Muslim.

The 129 people of diverse and predominantly foreign national backgrounds being fully initiated into the Catholic Church in Dublin Archdiocese tomorrow compares with 89 in 2025 and 15 in 2022.

A ceremony converting four people at St Mary’s Cathedral tomorrow will be the last such ceremony in the cathedral until 2028 as extensive refurbishments begin there after Easter.

As he prepares to become a new Catholic, Durán Domínguez says he has told his mother back in Spain about his conversion. He also told his siblings. “But I have yet to tell father,” he says.

How many new Catholics are there in Ireland?

Figures for fully initiated ‘new Catholics’ in Ireland over recent years have not been collated by the church, but recent census figures show the population of Catholics in Ireland is continuing to decline, even as it remains, by some distance, the majority religion of people in the Republic.

In the 2022 Census more than 3.5 million people living in the State said their religion was Catholic, accounting for 69 per cent of the population. Among those with Irish citizenship, 77 per cent identified as Catholic.

A breakdown of the figures suggests young people are turning away from the church.

Among preschool children, aged up to four years, 65 per cent were Catholic in 2022 while in the five-to-nine age group the figure was 72 per cent.

This represented a drop of 21 per cent in the number of Catholics under 10 since the previous census in 2016, while the population in this cohort has decreased by 8 per cent since then.

In the 10-to-24 age group the number of Catholics was unchanged between 2016 and 2022, even as the population in this age group increased by 14 per cent.

Similarly, between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, the population of 25-to-44-year-olds grew by just 1 per cent while the number of Catholics in this age group fell by 17 per cent.

Meanwhile, in 2022 the number of children aged up to nine years who were reported to have no religion increased by almost 60 per cent on the 2016 figure.

In 2022, people aged 25 to 29 years were less likely to describe themselves as Catholic, at 53 per cent, than any other age group.

German Cardinal Tells Priests: Communion Services Cannot Replace Sunday Mass

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki used his Holy Week homily to call priests back to the heart of their vocation: the daily celebration of the Eucharist.

Preaching at the chrism Mass at Cologne Cathedral on Monday evening — the annual liturgy at which priests renew their ordination promises before their bishop — the archbishop of Cologne urged the priests of his archdiocese to resist what he described as a troubling trend: the replacement of Sunday Mass with Communion services.

“I am concerned that Communion services — often with the distribution of holy Communion — are increasingly replacing the celebration of the Eucharist on Sundays,” Cardinal Woelki said. “That, dear brothers, is no longer Catholic, and I urgently ask you to counteract this from the outset!”

The services in question are Liturgy of the Word celebrations in which previously consecrated hosts are distributed to the faithful but no Mass is celebrated.

A call to daily Mass

Cardinal Woelki devoted much of his homily to the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the priest. The celebration of the Mass is “ultimately irreplaceable and cannot be substituted,” he said, according to Cologne’s Domradio.

The daily Mass is not merely a devotional practice but is “constitutive of our priestly being and activity,” Woelki told the priests gathered in the cathedral, Domradio reported. He cautioned that if priests neglect the daily celebration, they risk further distancing the faithful from the opportunity to participate in the Eucharist.

“Even if only a few faithful or even no faithful at all should come to celebrate, its daily celebration is meaningful for us priests and spiritually essential for our very survival,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Woelki appealed for a conscious return to the central role of the Eucharist, pointing to the practice of the early Church in which the community gathered around a single Sunday celebration. Reviving that spirit, he said, could strengthen parish unity and set in motion a “spiritual and Eucharistic renewal.”

Cologne’s challenges

By the number of registered Catholics, the Archdiocese of Cologne is one of the largest dioceses in Germany. Yet only about 6% of its Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass, below the German national average of 6.8%.

Sunday Communion services have been an option in the archdiocese only in recent years. Woelki himself proposed the step as early as April 2022, according to reports from June 2023. The services were introduced in 2024.

Review into Mother and Baby Homes payment scheme must be 'more than just tea and sympathy'

SINN FÉIN MEP Kathleen Funchion has said that there is not enough being done by the government to make amends for the trauma caused by institutional abuse in Ireland. 

She was speaking about the administration of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, a review of which must be commenced by 20 September. No date has yet been given for when the review will begin. 

In February, it was revealed that there was a “poor uptake” of the scheme in its first year, with less than 10% of the redress scheme’s budget being spent. 

According to Funchion, the redress element of the scheme is an important one because so many people affected by generational trauma have been left unable to work.

“For the redress scheme to actually work and for it to be meaningful, we need more than the ‘tea and sympathy’ approach,” she said.

“We’re in April and there’s been no talk of when the review is actually going to happen. Just because the review has to commence by September doesn’t mean it can’t be started earlier.”

Funchion says that there are a lot of people affected by institutional abuse who are not eligible for the redress scheme, something that she would like to see changed when the review goes ahead.

“There are a lot of institutions which weren’t included in the redress scheme, which excludes many people from being eligible,” she said.

“People who stayed in a Mother and Baby Home for less than six months are deemed outside the redress. This rule should be scrapped as it flies in the face of everything that we know around trauma and its impacts.”

The Sinn Féin MEP also said that she would like to see those who were “boarded out” included in the redress scheme. 

These were people who were sent to farms around the country as farm labourers, as well as sometimes to houses to help with domestic work, which she said was akin to “domestic slavery”. 

“Some of those stories are the most horrific stories that I’ve ever come across. These were children, basically at the age of seven or eight, working in the most appalling conditions, and who were being abused,” Funchion said.

“These people were never really given any special recognition and they were never given an additional payment for what they went through.” 

Funchion says that she would like the government to help the survivors achieve “proper justice”.

“I just cannot understand how you can sit down and listen to people and hear from women who have never been able to track down their adult children and vice versa,” she said. “Or how you can hear from children who have never been able to track down, whether it’s their mother or their father, and not do absolutely everything in your power to help them.”

In response to a request from The Journal, a spokesperson from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality said that “while the review has not yet commenced, initial preparatory work for it is already well underway.”

Under section 48 of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act, two reviews of the operation of the Scheme are provided for.

The first of these reviews must commence within six months of the second anniversary of its establishment, i.e after 20 March 2026 and before 20 September 2026.

“The review is largely operational in focus and will consider issues such as the level of uptake of the scheme, statistical analysis, the experience of applicants, the extent to which payments have been made and if the scheme is achieving its purpose,” the spokesperson said.