Catholic Church

Can speedy sermons nourish souls?

last month, a northern irish priest wrote in a local newspaper column that he had made a “deal” with his parishioners: all sermons from now ...
Nick Hallett

The way ahead for gay Catholics

two years ago cardinal vincent nichols asked me to be his liaison and chaplain to the farm street lgbt group in central london. that same we...
Mgr Keith Barltrop

The Australian Church must hold its nerve

the sexual abuse charges against cardinal george pell by the victoria police are a test for australian criminal justice, the australian chur...
Fr Raymond de Souza

Men at the mercy of the waves

most of us probably never give much thought to seafarers. they can seem remote from our daily lives. yet they play a critical role. without ...
Greg Watts

The DUP is peeking jealously over the border

i am writing this from a wonderful little former fishing village called glengarriff, an hour and a half’s drive from the gleaming new cork i...
William Cash

Is this Germany’s most hated woman?

imagine if someone were to ask you, to your face, if you were the most hated man or woman in your country. all of us would probably say no. ...
Simon Caldwell

Comments of the week

what’s behind the bma’s abortion vote sir – i was disappointed but hardly surprised when the british medical association voted in favour of ...
The Catholic Herald

Anthony Burgess, lapsed Catholic bore

what with all the seminars and symposiums, it has been a busy year for burgess scholars. this week the carnival continued in manchester, whe...
Jonathan Wright

The dying monk who drove a cardinal to silence

the power of silence by cardinal robert sarah, ignatius, £14 this is a deeply impressive book, equal to cardinal sarah’s earlier one, god or...
Francis Phillips

Is there a better way to honour our war dead?

fierce imaginings by rachel mann, dlt, £12.99 rachel mann’s grandfather, sam, owned a brown leather wallet, as “masculine as a shaving brush...
Jonathan Wright