Month: February 2024

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English cardinal offers prayers for King Charles III after cancer diagnosis

February 5, 2024 Catholic News Agency 3
Then-Prince Charles greets archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols during a reception for the Cardinal Newman Canonization at Pontifical Urban College on Oct. 13, 2019, at the Vatican. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Feb 5, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster offered prayers for King Charles III after Buckingham Palace announced Monday that the king would step away from some public duties amid treatment for cancer.

“I am saddened to learn that King Charles is now facing a time of treatment for cancer. On behalf of the entire Catholic Community in England and Wales, I offer His Majesty our warmest wishes and assurance of steadfast prayers for his full and speedy recovery. God bless the King,” Nichols, who heads the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said in a Feb. 5 X post. 

King Charles, 75, underwent treatment recently for an enlarged prostate, and an unspecified cancer was discovered during that treatment, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. The king remains “wholly positive about his treatment,” which has already begun, the statement said. The statement did not say what kind of cancer or at what stage it is. 

“His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer,” the statement concluded. 

King Charles ascended to the throne in 2022 following the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, and was crowned last spring. 

The English monarch is supreme governor of the Church of England, which broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534 under King Henry VIII. At his coronation last May, during which Charles took an oath to uphold the Protestant faith, Cardinal Nichols was the first Catholic prelate to take part in the coronation since the Reformation, offering a blessing after the crowning. 

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News Briefs

Catholic to lead Northern Ireland’s government for first time in history

February 5, 2024 Catholic News Agency 1
Newly appointed Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill made history Feb. 3, 2024, by becoming the first Catholic and first Irish nationalist to lead the country’s government in its 103 years of existence. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Sinn Féin/Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0 DEED

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 5, 2024 / 14:40 pm (CNA).

Newly appointed Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill made history over the weekend by becoming the first Catholic and first Irish nationalist to lead the country’s government in its 103 years of existence.

“As an Irish republican, I pledge cooperation and genuine honest effort with those colleagues who are British, of a unionist tradition, and who cherish the Union,” O’Neill, who is a member of the Irish nationalist and democratic socialist party Sinn Féin, said in an address to the Northern Ireland Assembly on Saturday after assuming the position of first minister.

“This is an assembly for all — Catholic, Protestant, and dissenter,” O’Neill added. “Despite our different outlooks and views on the future constitutional position, the public rightly demands that we cooperate, deliver, and work together. We must build trust and confidence in our ability to do that.”

Sinn Féin, which has historical ties to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, officially supports the reunification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which were separated in 1921 through a peace treaty between Irish revolutionaries and the United Kingdom. The treaty ended the 1919–1921 Irish war for independence from the United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland is currently part of the United Kingdom. Yet, per the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in 1998, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can reunite as one country if the majority of both countries vote in favor of such a change via referenda. 

The Good Friday Agreement, which received overwhelming support in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, brought an end to “The Troubles,” which was a 30-year violent conflict between Irish republicans and Ulster loyalists. The violence stemmed from disputes over the status of Northern Ireland and allegations of discrimination against Catholics through political gerrymandering, de facto segregation from housing policies, and workplace hiring practices that prevented Catholics from working in major industries that were mostly controlled by Protestants.

Despite this historical division, O’Neill’s address mostly focused on domestic problems rather than Irish reunification. 

“There are many nettles to grasp,” O’Neill said. “The rising cost of living has been a heavy burden on many households and businesses. There are people living from hand to mouth, and they need our support. There are too many patients waiting for treatment and support. Our teachers, nurses, and all public sector workers are being forced onto the picket line. This demands urgent action.”

However, in an interview with Sky News that aired the following day, O’Neill suggested that a vote to reunite the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland could occur within the next decade. 

“I believe that we are in the decade of opportunity and I believe … that we can do two things at once,” O’Neill said. “We can have power-sharing, we can make it stable, we can work together every day in terms of public services and while we also pursue our equally legitimate aspirations.”

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak responded to those comments in an interview with Sky News, encouraging O’Neill to focus on local issues instead of reunification, citing a £3.3 billion funding deal for Northern Ireland. 

“Our new deal gives them more funding and more powers than they’ve ever had so they can deliver for families and businesses across Northern Ireland,” Sunak said. “And that’s what everyone’s priority is now. It’s not constitutional change. It’s delivering on the day-to-day things that matter to people.”

Sinn Féin won the plurality of Northern Ireland Assembly seats in May 2022 for the first time in the country’s history. However, a failure to reach a power-sharing agreement delayed the appointment of a first minister for nearly two years. 

Despite Sinn Féin’s historical association with Irish Catholics, O’Neill and the party are at odds with Church teaching on a number of issues. For example, Sinn Féin supported the increase in access to abortion and the party supports children having access to transgender drugs.

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