Catholic Church

A yes to cremation – but don’t keep the ashes

the vatican’s doctrinal watchdog has set out new guidelines for catholics who want to be cremated, saying their remains must be stored in a ...

In brief

second earthquake devastates norcia priests in central italy have been instructed to celebrate mass outdoors following another devastating e...

The battle over St John Paul’s legacy

on the face of it, the closure of melbourne’s john paul ii institute does not seem especially earth-shaking news. true, the institution has ...

The acceptable face of hardline secularism

in late september, justin trudeau addressed the one young world gathering, specifically held in ottawa the better to bask in the glow of the...

Fr Raymond de Souza

The smearing of Stepinac

four boxes of documents in the croatian state archives in zagreb are what remain of the so-called “dossier stepinac”, the udba (yugoslav sec...

The art of a good death

in years gone by, death was a feature of everyday life. there was a much higher mortality rate and people tended to die at home surrounded b...

Fr George Bowen

Scorsese’s gift to the Jesuits

the discovery of king richard iii’s bones underneath a car park in leicester was one of the hottest news stories of 2012. and it still gener...

Thomas J Craughwell

Comments of the Week

i’m dismayed by the vatican’s edict on ashes sir – although i am not as educated in the ways of the church as some of your contributors clea...

The Catholic Herald

Fim: Werner Herzog’s surreal tour of volcanoes

into the inferno  (12a, 107 mins,  ★★★★ ) of the many subjects werner herzog has confronted throughout his long and extraordinary ...

Theatre: Harwood’s Dresser is top drawer

ronald harwood worked with donald wolfit for five years, and though the dresser at duke of york’s theatre is not about wolfit, harwood ackno...