Culture

The secret music composed by medieval nuns

it’s an almost unbelievable statistic, but according to professor laurie stras, an academic at huddersfield university and noted authority o...

Praying out of habit is better than not praying at all

in his first audience of 2019, pope francis urged the faithful not to “parrot” their prayers – and to cease trying to “flatter” god by repea...

When did stained glass lose its soul?

how to look at stained glass by jane brocket ib tauris, 256pp, £12.99/$20 almost as soon as i began reading jane brocket’s how to look at st...

Omnium Gatherum

after epiphany, the church teases forth into liturgical celebrations different manifestations of the lord’s divinity, including his baptism ...

Heretic of the week: George Tyrrell

george tyrrell (1861-1909) was the posthumous son of an anglican journalist in dublin. raised in poverty, he converted in 1879 and joined th...

The genius of Richard John Neuhaus

richard john neuhaus, who died 10 years ago this week, was a master of words who was mastered by the word. whether he was speaking at anti-w...

Ecumenical Patriarch recognizes independence of Orthodox Church of Ukraine

the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople on saturday signed a tomos of autocephaly for the orthodox church of ukraine, formally recognizin...

Chad Pecknold joins Catholic Herald as contributing editor

as we announced last week. c.c. pecknold will be joining the catholic herald as a contributing editor. an associate ...

Solzhenitsyn saw how suffering could be redemptive

last december saw a significant centenary: 100 years since the birth of alexander solzhenitsyn, the russian writer and winner of the nobel p...

Like the Magi, follow Christ's light, Pope Francis says

to be clothed in the divine light of christ, follow the example of the three magi, who put aside worldly power and success and rose to follo...

Morning Catholic must-reads: 07/01/19

“we must not let our fears close our heart," pope francis said at yesterday's angelus ( full text , full video ). to find jesus, we must fol...

Why the Soviet Union failed to eradicate religion

there is a very affecting scene at the end of turgenev’s mid-nineteenth century novel, fathers and sons, when bazarov, the resolute young at...

A ‘spy’ in the British establishment

Panama is sparing no expense on this month's World Youth Day

what kind of a panama will pope francis encounter when he visits the country for world youth day later this month? the country is as catholi...

2019 is the year of Leonardo da Vinci

the single currency devised by the european union, the euro, is 20 years old this month. my personal disappointment with this financial inno...

Do we need another Churchill biography?

churchill: walking with destiny by andrew roberts allen lane, 1,152pp, £35/$40 if some kind soul gave you a handful of notes to spend, ...

Experimental novelist Murakami is sounding like a broken record

killing commendatore by haruki murakami, harvill secker, 702pp, £20/$30 isolation is central to the work of japanese novelist haruki murakam...

The Word this Week

the epiphany of the lord is 60:1-6; eph 3:2-3 & 5-6; mt 2:1-12 (year c) the celebration of the epiphany is, in many ways, a joyful medit...

Remembering our many Epiphany traditions

one of the sad byproducts of the endless “holiday season” that stretches from halloween on (or, in recent years, even earlier – creating a w...

Morning Catholic must-reads: 03/01/19

patriarch kirill has told patriarch bartholomew that if he recognises an independent ukrainian church he will “stop being the primate of the...

Nun and art critic Sister Wendy Beckett dies aged 88

She achieved international fame presenting TV documentaries on art history

Pope's Urbi et Orbi address: peace and consolation from the birth of the Saviour

on christmas, pope francis prayed for peace and renewed brotherhood in syria, yemen, venezuela, nicaragua, and other parts of the world expe...