Europe

The terrible truth about 'assisted dying': Lessons from Canada and Australia

another big push to legalise “assisted dying” in the uk has been reinforced by celebrity endorsements,  hard cases and the testimonies ...

Sunday Gospel reflection: Parsing the devil's use of 'us'

"what do you want with us, jesus of nazareth?" (mark 1:24) why does the demon in sunday’s gospel use the plural "us" rather than the singula...

Fr David Howell

A journey of contrasts: leading Herald pilgrims along the Way of St Francis

on the evening before our motley group of 14 herald pilgrims headed off on our 108 km trek from terni towards assisi, we gathered at a littl...

Vatican court overturns priest’s acquittal in landmark seminary sexual abuse case

rome – a vatican court has overturned the acquittal of a priest accused of sexually abusing a fellow student at the vatican’s st. pius x pre...

Pope urges Catholics to pick up a Bible against social media ‘barrage’

rome – pope francis has urged believers to go beyond the “barrage” of words in the social media era and to allow themselves to be transforme...

Chant and sensory overload: Visiting Mount Athos

unlike many who visit athos, my trip was not planned months or years in advance, but instead came about when a friend invited me to join him...

In the face of calls to abolish, the Church must remember clerical celibacy is a gift from God

there are many angles from which to analyse clerical celibacy today and the suggestions by some that it's high time to end the practice. i w...

Fr David Howell

Unexpected Santander Angelus amid echoes of Covid mania

in the bottom-left corner of the cathedral's nave an old priest sat on a wooden chair with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders against the ...

How the stolen Parish Missal was returned to the people of Groix

last summer, in a packed church on a small island in brittany, the local mayor presented an englishman with the medal of groix, its name tak...

New tricks bring an old Da Vinci to life in Amsterdam

william cash soaks up the sights and sounds of a new immersive leonardo da vinci show in amsterdam. following the success of such immersive ...