Catholic Church

Morning Catholic must-reads: 01/03/19

nicaragua’s bishops have called for prayers ahead of new talks between government and opposition leaders. pope francis has chosen an italian...

Why clerical beards divide the Eastern and Western Church

the wearing of beards by clergy is a topic historically fraught with contradiction. but before we explore those contradictions, i owe you th...

Charles Coulombe

The war on priestly celibacy

the consensus has it out for priestly celibacy and chastity in catholicism. which means we the faithful, lay and clerical, are called to ral...

Could priests in California be jailed over the Seal of Confession?

last week a california state senator introduced a bill to remove the penitential exemption from mandatory reporting of sexual abuse, in what...

Heretic of the week: Cornelius Jansen

cornelius jansen (1585-1638) was born in gelderland in the netherlands. in 1602 he began studies at louvain, which was divided between the m...

Charles Coulombe

Prize crossword 0582

cryptic across 5 egyptian on times’s first drink leads to a new, doddery nadir (11) 7 the soul of holy crusaders, evident in battle here (4)...

The best thing that could emerge from the abuse summit

fine words butter no parsnips. nor indeed can jargon take the place of an attempt to serve a better quality of vegetable. at the risk of see...

Fr Dominic Allain

We can all strive to live without mortal sin

"we are in a fight for our lives." this was part of the message ancient converts received as they approached their reception into the church...

Fr John Zuhlsdorf

Miracle Workers: Daniel Radcliffe's heaven-set comedy fails miserably

has hollywood ever really cared about god – i mean the true god, father, son and holy ghost? probably not. the great god mammon is another b...

Letters & emails

a papal visit and a war the world forgot sir – why don’t we care about yemen? the question is posed following your coverage (february 8 edit...

The Catholic Herald