The Catholic Herald

What grace and weight loss have in common

on the feast of ss peter and paul i celebrated the 20th anniversary of my ordination to the sacred priesthood. not a huge milestone perhaps,...

Fr Dominic Allain

The pure joy of the Visitation

in our traditional roman liturgical calendar, july 2 (the conclusion of the long-suppressed octave of john the baptist) is the feast of the ...

Fr John Zuhlsdorf

Auberon Waugh's provocative wine reviews just get better with age

waugh on wine by auberon waugh quartet, 180pp, £10/$13 though auberon waugh (bron to his friends) sometimes remarked that journalism was to ...

David Platzer

How did the 'religion of humanity' replace Christianity?

the idol of our age by daniel j mahoney encounter books, 184pp, £17.99/$15.90 one of the most famous passages in modern literature is fyodor...

Alexandra Hudson

Chernobyl is a mesmerising indictment of a culture of lies

in his 1970 nobel prize speech, aleksandr solzhenitsyn said: “those works of art which have scooped up the truth and presented it to us as a...

Andrew Petiprin

The Patriarch who is trying to hold his country together

in an age when catholic leaders across the world are calling on governments to welcome migrants, patriarch bechara boutros al-rahi stands ou...

Bree Dail

Cardinal Burke's week of controversy

cardinal raymond burke broke his silence last week regarding the unfortunate appearance of his name on a list of senior prelates who receive...

Christopher R. Altieri

The best of the web: Ambiguity, Mr Catholic Boston and restoration

‘eloquent ambiguity’ in the catechism at crisis, fr george rutler remarked on the us bishops’ recent plenary meeting. the bishops discussed ...

Staff writers

How to… Make reparation to the Immaculate Heart

since the 17th century devotion to the immaculate heart of mary has spread in parallel with the sacred heart devotion. the latter emphasises...

The Catholic Herald

Messiaen's ecstatic music is for everyone

i first heard the music of olivier messiaen when i was a student in the 1980s, recently arrived in london to study theology and philosophy a...

Rachel de Souza

Be still and listen to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

as this number of the weekly magazine you now peruse was issued, we celebrate the most sacred heart of jesus. in the church’s post-conciliar...

Fr John Zuhlsdorf

Why didn't the book kill the scroll?

the role of the scroll by thomas forrest kelly, ww norton, 181pp, £19.99/$29.95 in 1387, bishop john fordham of durham entertained king rich...

Simon Caldwell

How a Depression-era photographer found her calling

one of the most recognised and reproduced photographic images in the world is the care-worn visage of dorothea lange’s migrant mother (1936)...

Wyeth Burgess

Graham Greene is unfashionable, but there will surely be a revival

in 1960 evelyn waugh declined a request to review graham greene’s new novel a burnt-out case. they were friends but the book saddened him. i...

Allan Massie

Why Mexican Catholicism has lost ground since Trent

in writing a book on mexican christianity, one question has been unavoidable: why has protestantism grown and catholicism declined – especia...

Todd Hartch

The people who really keep the Vatican going

in all the talk of curial reform, most of the attention has focused on the top spots: what will they be when the dust settles, and who will ...

Christopher R. Altieri

The Eucharist is both destination and sustenance

the body and blood of christ gen 14:18-20; 1 cor 11:23-26; lk 9:11-17 (year c) "the lord’s revelation to my master: ‘sit on my right, i will...

Bishop David McGough

Escaping the 'raging wee cantons' of Belfast

the ghost factory by jenny mccartney 4th estate, 272pp, £12.99/$17.99 the ghost factory is set in northern ireland at the tail end of the tr...

Michael Duggan

Schoenberg: The founding father of 'heroic modernism'

arnold schoenberg by mark berry reaktion books, 224pp, £12/$19 arnold schoenberg was a composer much given to statements of sweeping portent...

Michael White

A poet's guide to avoiding the fires of hell

spiritual direction from dante by fr paul pearson, tan books, 372pp, £20/$25 in the 700 years since the publication of dante alighieri’s thr...

Patrick Cusworth

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