Ireland

The repressive Penal Laws enforced under British rule banned the public practice of the Catholic faith and persecuted Catholic priests and people.

On the feast of All Souls, Catholics in Chicago joined in commemorating the great famine in Ireland that left more than 1 million people dead and began the mass exodus …

The NGO for which the missionary works, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, reported the news with “deep gratitude and a relief that cannot be described in words.”

A Franciscan monastery that survived an atomic bombing, the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention, young adult groups inspired by Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and more were in our news coverage …

An Irish parish priest described kidnapped missionary as a “wonderful, generous, caring and compassionate person.”

Gena Heraty was among several taken by gunmen in the early hours of Aug. 3 from the Saint-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff, near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince.

An incoming doctor of the church, a “Pilgrimage of Peace” and more are highlights of this week.

“The pilgrim path to the summit of the Reek has been made holy by the feet of those who have walked it before us,” Archbishop Duffy said.

A Carlo Acutis mosaic in Chicago, a scooter-riding catechist in Singapore and more in this weekly roundup.

The Irish government “seems not to care why women choose abortion, or what happens to them afterwards.”