One of the oldest women’s Catholic organizations in the world has released a music video in their latest effort to persuade the Vatican to ordain women.

The head of the  the traditionalist Society of St Pius X has described Jewish people “enemies of the Church."

Ireland’s Catholic hierarchy will discuss its concerns over proposed abortion legislation directly with the government next week.

The Catholic Church has suggested a referendum be held to overturn the Supreme Court's X case judgment on abortion.

Catholic Priests in the Bronx have reported an increase in petty crime, with thieves targeting parishioners during mass.

Monsignor Eamon Martin, 51, the administrator of the Diocese of Derry, is about to become the next leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland. He will be the youngest bishop or archbishop in Ireland when he is inaugurated in a few months.

For decades, retired Cardinal Roger Mahony and other high ranking members of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles made secret efforts to shield child molesting priests. Their aim was to keep their parishioners in the dark and control the damage to the church, church personnel files have revealed.

Believing that you can do no harm because God is on your side has a long history, but it’s still one of the most dangerous ideas you can entertain. As Oscar winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has discovered, the consequences of that belief have been playing out for decades in the Catholic Church. In his new powerful new film Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, he tells Cahir O'Doherty why he holds the church to account for it.

A Catholic Archbishop has described the efforts of the American church to thwart police investigations into clerical sex abuse as ‘terribly sad and evil’ – after he banned Cardinal Roger M. Mahony from public life.

On Friday, the Obama administration announced new rules that seek to eliminate any confusion over which organizations with religious objections will be exempt from having to cover contraception costs for their employees.

According to the Huffington Post, employers with religious objections will have to self-certify that they are non-profits with religion as a core part of their mission.

Up to 2,000 children were illegally exported from Magdalene laundries in Ireland to adoptive parents in the U.S., mainly to wealthy families.

A Donegal priest has quit his parish after what he referred to as “bullying” in the form of verbal and physical abuse from his parishioners.

Survivors of Catholic run workhouses in Ireland are awaiting an apology today, when an Inter-Departmental Committee report is published into the State’s involvement in their detention and exploitation.

A leading Catholic lawyer and commentator has slammed the Pope for publicly shaming Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony over clerical child abuse whilst treating Irish Cardinal Sean Brady in an entirely different matter.

Singer Sinead O’Connor has revealed she was a victim of the Magdalene Laundries scandal – and it affected her for life.

Police have been investigating violence directed at Armagh churches in recent weeks. Suspicious devices were left at churches in Newtownabbey and Ballyclare and a church in Whitehead was targeted by arsonists. No arrests have been made and no motive given.

PHOTOS - The statues of St. Patrick and St. Brigid by Timothy Schmalz - slideshow

Could New York Cardinal Timothy Patrick Dolan be the next pope? He is definitely a legitimate contender, the first American one ever, according to Vatican insiders.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by the shock announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will resign at the end of February.

In an interview with The Washington Times Communities, an American shared her story of surviving the Magdalene Laundries operated in the United States.

The next pope is very likely to be African according to Paddy Power, Ireland’s leading bookmaker, who has come out with a list of “papabile,” those considered papal material.

Despite being defunct since 1996, the notorious Magdalene Laundries of Ireland have left long lasting legacies. Etta Thornton-Verma shares her story of finding out that her own mother was a victim of one of the workhouses.

St. Valentine, the patron saint of love, was executed in Rome and buried there in the 3rd century. Much later an Irish priest was granted permission to exhume his remains, and now his skeleton lies under a church in Dublin.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will hear demands for a state apology when he meets survivors of the Magdalene Laundries on Monday.

Read more: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio named Pope Francis - the new leader of the Catholic Church

With the resignation of Pope Benedict coming into effect on Feb 28th, there are only 20 days for the eligible cardinals with voting rights to elect a new pope.

Irish leader Enda Kenny and President Michael D Higgins led tributes to Pope Benedict XVI after he announced his retirement on Monday.

The day before Ash Wednesday is known by many names: Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, and Pancake Day.

Cardinal Roger Mahony will still help to elect a new pope, although he was barred from performing any public duties in his Los Angeles archdiocese by the current archbishop because of his handling of multiple sex abuse cases involving pedophile clergy.

Although the Irish bookies Paddy Power are only giving Cardinal Timothy Dolan odds of 40/1 to be chosen as Pope Benedict’s replacement and the man himself is playing the suggestion down, the residents of New York are backing him to be the new leader of the Catholic Church.

By the prophecies of Irish St. Malachy the next pope will be last, will be known as Peter of Rome and a great Armageddon will happen on his watch.

Reactions to the Canadian sculptor’s idea to build a 100-foot statue of St. Patrick, on Croagh Patrick, have being coming into IrishCentral and it seems that the mood on the idea is split among our readers. 

Pope Adrian IV is one of the most controversial popes for the Irish. He issued  the “Laudabiliter” or as it is better known “Bull,” which gave Henry II  the Pope’s permission to invade Ireland “for the correction of morals and the introduction of virtues, for the advancement of the Christian religion.” The Papal Bull became the most well known and controversial part of the pope’s legacy. 

Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin should replace Pope Benedict as pope writes Catholic commentator and author Michael D’Antonio in the Los Angeles Times.

Pope Benedict XVI has said he plans to be “hidden from the world” after he resigns from his position of leader of the Catholic Church in two weeks time.

It is now quite likely the new pope could be elected on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.

In what some are calling a display of divine displeasure at the pope’s decision to resign, a bolt of lightening struck the Cross atop the dome of Peter’s Basilica in Rome only hours after the Pope’s shocking announcement. The pope’s decision left Catholics confused and bewildered as to the direction in which the Church is now headed.

Catholic politicians who support abortion legislation should be refused Holy Communion, says Cardinal Raymond Burke, who heads the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest legal tribunal that rules on canon law.

To the Catholic Church in Ireland Elvis Presley once represented more than blue suede shoes. Could he, they wondered, be a front man for Satan?

For the first time since 1415, we are going  to have a conclave or papal election with no Pope to bury beforehand.  But the procedures for the election are not affected by this ‘novelty.’ Dan Brown might seem an unlikely source for information on a Papal election but the detailed description in Angels and Demons was apparently taken from a book by a Jesuit scholar and is quite accurate.

The crowds were larger than usual at Pope Benedict’s penultimate address on Sunday, and the crowd heard him ask the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope.

The Irish government has announced the process of compensation amounting to $133 million, for Magdalene survivors should be wound up by August.

The Irish leader Enda Kenny made an historic apology to survivors of the Magdalene Laundries on Tuesday.

Catholics United have launched a petition against Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony attending the conclave in the Vatican, to chose a successor for Pope Benedict XIV.