DUBLIN – An Irish bishop said he hopes Pope Francis' August visit can help bring healing after a divisive referendum that will pave the way for abortion on demand up to 12 weeks' gestation.

DUBLIN – Irish bishops used Pentecost Sunday Masses to make a final appeal for people to reject a government proposal to remove the right to life of unborn children from the country's constitution and pave the way for abortion up to 12 weeks' gestation.

VATICAN CITY – The Irish bishops are just finishing up their first ad limina visit to Rome in 10 years – a time that’s been marked by a rapid increase in secularism, the legalization of same-sex marriage and the country's tragic clerical sex abuse crisis.