The Catholic Herald

The cautionary tale of Breaking Bad

Pride and resentment can lead to desperately bad decisions

a mere decade behind everyone else, i am catching up with the us tv show breaking bad, which originally ran from 2008 to 2013. as some reade...

Symbolic stance

Churches must take care, when hanging flags, to differentiate between the political and the eternal

the church of england’s consistory courts are not normally at the centre of the culture war. these bodies – there is one in every anglican d...

Rock of Ages

The Carthusian motto reminds us of the Church’s constancy in times of peril

stat crux dum volvitur orbis, the carthusians say: the cross is steady while the world turns. in the midst of what a great anglican prayer c...

Finding the key to an interior life

A delightful book, published in 1948, still has the power to entrance children

there cannot be many issues which preoccupy christian parents more than how to keep their children engaged with the faith. this is hardly a ...

The steep and rugged pathway

Lent looms. But for members of Exodus 90, a sort of rigorous abstinence the Desert Fathers might recognise has been a way of life since 17 January

february promises longer days and the first glimmers of spring, but its arrival also heralds the approach of lent on 2 march. ash wednesday ...

Unwelcome alteration

On the 30th anniversary of its publication, a book about the Reformation explains how Christianity was robbed of its magic and mystery

there is a folk history of the reformation in england which goes roughly as follows: in the years immediately before the break with rome, th...

Maintaining the Christmas spirit

The secret to overcoming the anticlimax of January is to set oneself easy goals

'i will honour christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” what a striking promise scrooge makes to the spirit of christmas yet...

Oh, for a clearer walk with God

If homilies are to be engaging, regardless of length, a greater effort must be made, while training candidates for the priesthood, in how to speak

from time to time, the lectionary – the three-yearly cycle of bible readings laid down by the church for sunday mass – poses a particular ch...

Following St Francis

on 4 october 2003, the feast day of saint francis, i arrived in santiago de compostela, having completed the camino frances, the pilgrimage ...

The Poetry of The Mass

That many aspects of God’s nature and plans remain mysterious, at least during our earthly lives, has been a longstanding theme of Christian writing.

cover image: pope francis celebrates mass in the sistine chapel on march 14, 2013 (afp photo/osservatore romano via getty images) &nbsp...

So what if the Nativity story is embellished?

apparently there is some scholarly debate over whether jesus was really born in a stable. close textual analysis, and careful study of the e...

Christians have committed terrible crimes over the centuries. Why is that?

during the siege of jerusalem, at the conclusion of the first crusade in 1099, a priest led devotions on the mount of olives, attended by hu...

Ignore the critics. 'It's a Wonderful Life' is a wise tribute to everyday heroism

it’s almost christmas, which means that somewhere a critic is sharpening his pen for that staple of yuletide contrarianism, your beloved fes...

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Niall Gooch