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Small drop in number of priests worldwide

the number of priests in the world dropped by 136 during 2015, the vatican has reported. the increased number of priests in african dioceses...

Staff writers

Parents to Pope: help us find our son’s killers

the parents of a student tortured to death in egypt have urged pope francis to take up the case during his forthcoming trip to the country. ...

Staff writers

Papal envoy praises Medjugorje’s ‘climate’

pope francis’s envoy to medjugorje has said that “there is a special spiritual climate” in the town. archbishop henryk hoser of warsaw-praga...

Staff Reporter

News in brief

francis names priest to oversee abuse cases pope francis has named mgr john kennedy as head of the discipline section of the congregation of...

The Catholic Herald

Britain’s unhinged row over Easter

on her way to saudi arabia last week, theresa may was asked about easter eggs – specifically, about the national trust dropping the word “ea...

Dan Hitchens

How my Ash Wednesday cross went viral

wednesdays in parliament are always hectic, with committees, prime minister’s questions and journalists vying for interviews. therefore, on ...

Carol Monaghan

The Ratzinger revolution

benedict xvi will celebrate his 90th birthday on easter sunday. cardinal joachim meisner famously described him as a man who is as inte...

Tracey Rowland

Colin Brazier: Facebook doesn’t know you’re dead

last month facebook sent me an email to remind me that it was ken’s birthday. a delightful man, ken. right up to his death, two years ago. t...

Colin Brazier

The Cross ISIS couldn't destroy

returning to england after a few days in iraq, it is the sound of broken glass and rubble, crunching underfoot in one of the many destroyed ...

Fr Benedict Kiely

On the road

my favourite of the eastertide gospels is luke’s account of the disciples on the road to emmaus. it appears at first to be the sort of thing...

Anthony Esolen

Richard Ingrams: The Gospels as journalism

hearing the traditional easter gospel reading (john 20) always reminds me of graham greene’s reaction to it – that it is reportage, a factua...

Richard Ingrams

Mary Kenny: Let's raise statues to Christian feminists

the decision to raise a statue to dame millicent fawcett, the campaigner for votes for women, in london’s parliament square (where there are...

Mary Kenny

Motor neurone disease sufferer wins right to challenge law on assisted suicide

Noel Conway initially lost his case last month to bring about a judicial review of the law

Staff Reporter

Comments of the week

two encyclicals that changed the world sir – your leading article commemorating the 50th anniversary of populorum progressio (march 31) sugg...

The Catholic Herald

The Mass Henry heard after dispatching More

in the small, dark chapel of a 16th-century country house a priest is saying mass, using the latin rite that in a few years’ time will be a ...

Michael White

Television: Prudish Waugh would approve of this Decline

the genius of evelyn waugh was his ability to be both moral and malicious, to find joy in just how wicked we really are. decline and fall (f...

Tim Stanley

Music: The choir that makes Luther sound charming

readers of the catholic herald are unlikely to be overcome with enthusiasm for the quincentenary of the reformation, which occurs this year....

Michael White

Fine art: The Venetian upstart who took on Raphael

the raising of lazarus, painted by sebastiano luciani (1485-1547) – known after 1531 as sebastiano del piombo, when pope clement vii gave hi...

David Scrase

The sign that gives hope to every generation

the cross by robin m jensen, harvard, £25 the cross of jesus christ, his passion and death, is at the heart of the christian faith. the sign...

Paul Senz

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