Pope Francis' Message for Lent 2015 was released by the Vatican today. In his letter the Holy Father invites all believers to open their hearts to God and to overcome a 'globalization of indifference' that, he said, is threatening to spread a feeling of distress and powerlessness and causing individuals and communities to withdraw into themselves, closing “the door through which God comes into the world and the world comes to him.” The full text of Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2015 follows:

Bishop Liam MacDaid, Bishop of Clogher, has invited priests and parishioners of his diocese to take part in a diocesan-wide discussion in advance of the Synod on the Family in the Vatican in October on the theme 'The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World'. In a letter to the priests and people of the diocese Bishop MacDaid invites the faithful to walk with Pope Francis saying: “Pope Francis has encouraged us to be honest and frank as we walk with him and he has stated his wish to hear and listen

Survivors of clerical sexual abuse and former clergy offenders have worked together for the first time at a ground-breaking meeting in Durham, held last week at Ushaw College. Alongside psychologists and lawyers, seminary rectors and theologians from Europe, North America and Australia, they attended a conference organised by Durham University's Centre for Catholic Studies and its Project for Spirituality, Theology and Health with the support of the UK Jesuits, Heythrop College, the English Benedictines, and the Marist Brothers, with St Patrick's College Maynooth

On Sunday, 25 January, York was the location for the first Carmelite friar to be ordained priest in the city since the Reformation. Father Gerard (Ged) Walsh was ordained priest by Rt Rev Terence Drainey, Bishop of Middlesbrough, at Our Lady’s Church in Acomb, during the parish celebration of Mass. This was an historic moment for the Carmelite Order which first came to York in 1250. Until the suppression of Catholic religious orders at the Reformation in 1536, York was the administrative and training centre for the Carmelite Order

In his diary written in the Warsaw Ghetto, Chaim A Kaplan wrote this entry for October 2nd 1940: Again: everything is forbidden to us; and yet we do everything! We make our "living" in ways that are forbidden, and not by permission. It is the same with community prayers: secret minyanim in their hundreds all over Warsaw hold prayers together and do not leave out even the most difficult hymns.…Near the main synagogue some side room is chosen with windows facing the courtyard, and there hearts are poured out to the God of Israel 

An archbishop from Kurdish northern Iraq grappling with the influx of more than 120,000 Christians fleeing ISIS,  is to come to London to plead their cause. Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil is due to give an address in the Houses of Parliament on Monday, 9 February amid increasing concerns about the future of Christians who escaped from Mosul and Nineveh with no more than the clothes they were wearing. At the House of Lords event sponsored by human rights campaigner Lord David Alton of Liverpool,

 CAFOD and its partners have intensified their Ebola response work in Sierra Leone, joining the international effort to reach zero new cases of Ebola in the coming months. Thanks to money donated by supporters to their Ebola crisis appeal - which raised over one million pounds - and funding from the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), CAFOD partners are scaling up distributions of food and household items to quarantined families, Outbreak Prevention kits (made up of protective clothing, bleach and cleaning materials) to places of worship,

The Parish of Our Lady and  St Thomas of Canterbury Harrow–on–the–Hill ( five minutes walk from Harrow–on–the– Hill Metropolitan Line Station) Is seeking to appoint an enthusiastic, innovative, creative pastoral assistant who has vision and dedication to work with the parish as they continue to develop their Mission.

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) has expressed deep concern over desperate protests taking place on Manus Island - used as a detention centre for asylum seekers - and the government's lack of transparency. The office said in a statement: 'Since Tuesday, 13 January 2013, close to 700 asylum seekers have embarked on a hunger strike with 40 asylum seekers sewing their lips together and others swallowing razor blades. Asylum seekers on the Island resorted to such drastic measures after being told that they would 

In their joint declaration of November 30th 2014, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew mentioned the ecumenism of suffering: ‘…we can say that there is also an ecumenism of suffering. Just as the blood of the martyrs was a seed of strength and fertility for the Church, so too the sharing of daily sufferings can become an effective instrument of unity. The terrible situation of Christians and all those who are suffering in the Middle East calls not only for our constant prayer,

Christians must continue to pray for the “full, complete and visible unity” desired by Jesus Christ in spite of the appearances of new obstacles within the last half a century, the Bishop of Shrewsbury has said. In recent decades the great goal of the unity of all Christians had been relegated in the minds of many people to a “noble but seemingly hopeless cause”, the Rt Rev Mark Davies said during a homily in St Mary’s Anglican Church, Nantwich, Cheshire, on Sunday.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) announced today that former education minister, Sarah Teather MP, will join the International Advocacy team on 1 June 2015. As advocacy adviser, Ms Teather will focus on the provision of education for refugee children the Middle East and South Sudan. Ms Teather will stand down from the British Parliament in May 2015, after 13 years in elected politics. For nearly 12 of these years she represented the London constituency of Brent Central, the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom.

Violations of religious freedom in Cuba continued to rise in 2014, according to a new report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) detailing 220 separate violations over the course of the year. Religious leaders and groups from all denominations on the island reported problems ranging from harassment and fines to confiscation and destruction of church property....  In 2014 the historic Franciscan monastery in Guanabacoa shut its doors after waiting years for government permission 

The primary and indispensable role of women in transmitting the faith to new generations was the focus of Pope Francis’ reflections on the readings at Mass this morning in the chapel at Santa Marta. On the day when the Church celebrates Saints Timothy and Titus – bishops and disciples of St Paul the Apostle, Pope Francis commented in particular on the second letter of Paul to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy of where his “sincere faith” comes from: his faith comes from the Holy Spirit, “through his mother and grandmother.”

Temperatures have plummeted across the country over the last few weeks. For homeless people spending most of their time on the streets this icy weather can be life-threatening. A group of SVP volunteers held a day-long collection at Marylebone Station, (owned by Chiltern Railways) on 16 January, to fund cold weather essentials for the homeless. They raised over £2400.  The Vinnie Packs, containing a thermal hat, thermal gloves and thermal socks, emergency foil blanket, toothbrush, toothpaste, pen and information sheet, are put together by

Today, 26 January, is Blue Monday, said to be the most depressing day of the year. Two Christian charities have joined forces to produce a new resource to help churches better understand and support people with mental health needs in their congregations. The pack includes information on common mental health conditions; pastoral tips for working with people with mental illnesses; and theological perspectives on mental health. Katharine Welby-Roberts, an associate at Livability and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s daughter 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has called on President Obama to raise the concerns of India’s religious minorities in his bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to India from 25-27 January. President Obama’s visit to India is a crucial step forward in US-India relations in recent years, and follows the lifting of a visa ban on Prime Minister Modi ahead of his official visit to the US in September 2014. President Obama will be the chief guest at the Republic Day function on Monday 26 January.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, welcomed passage of the 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2015' (HR 7) by the US House of Representatives. “By passing this legislation, the House has taken a decisive step toward respect for unborn human life, reflecting the will of the American people,” he said. Co-sponsored by Reps Chris Smith and Dan Lipinski, the pro-life bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 242-179 

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity concluded today. Before the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis said the theme this year is: "Give me a drink", the sentence uttered by Jesus to the Samaritan woman. He said the "desire for unity" of the disciples of Jesus is part of our "thirst not only material for water, but above all our thirst for a full life, free from the slavery of evil and death." He went on to say that "Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises because it is he who gives to the Holy Spirit, the 'living water' that quenches 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is not a judgment but a meeting with God who forgives all our sins, without exception, Pope Francis said, during his homily at his morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Friday. Basing his reflections on an extract from St Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, the Pope said our God forgives all our sins, always and without exception and He rejoices when somebody asks him for pardon. This God who pardons us, he continued, choose Jesus to set up a new pact with humanity and the cornerstone of this pact is forgiveness for our sins.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, the Archbishop of Glasgow, is making a good recovery, after suffering a heart attack on Thursday during a visit to the Scots College in Spain. A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Media Office said in a statement: "The Archbishop condition has markedly improved. This afternoon he will leave the University Hospital of Salamanca and return to the Royal Scots College. "It is hoped that he will be able to return to Scotland next week.

Thousands of peacemakers gathered today in London to join a major campaign to put Trident on the agenda for the General Election in a creative action to ‘wrap up ‘ the Ministry of Defence and other government buildings with giant pink scarf. Before the encircling of the buildings several hundred members of Pax Christi, the Quakers, Christian CND and other Christian gathered for prayer in St Martin-in-the-Fields and then kept vigil outside on the steps, proclaiming to those who passed messages from the churches condemning nuclear weapons.

Pope Francis has sent a letter to each of the 20 clergymen who will be elevated to the College of Cardinals during the consistory on 14 February. In his letter, the Pope reminded the prelate"s that being a Cardinal is a vocation to serve and stressed the need to be humble. “Staying humble, whilst serving is not easy,” he said, when people consider the cardinalate “as a prize, or the peak of one’s career,” a dignified position of power or of superior distinction.

Listening to the reading from the Prophet Jonah we cannot fail to be moved! God saw the sorrow and repentance of the people of Nineveh, and spared them in this story. Today IS ignored the cries of the people in Mosul and destroyed the existence of the Christian community! The irony cannot be lost on us; now people claiming to do this in God’s a name are destroying Mosul/Nineveh! But in Jonah’s story the big difference it is about coming together not rending asunder.

The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for the 49th World Day of Social Communications, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica, 1963). The theme of this year’s message: 'Communicating the Family – a Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love'. The World Day of Social Communications is celebrated in almost all countries on the Sunday before Pentecost. The announcement came on the eve of 24 January, the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron of journalists,