Holy See

Queen honours English cardinal for work in inter-faith dialogue

a cardinal has spoken of his gratitude at being honoured by queen elizabeth ii in the british monarch’s annual new year’s list. cardinal mic...

Luke Coppen CNA

Pope preaches peace during Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi blessing

giving his traditional christmas day “urbi et orbi” blessing, pope francis urged leaders to be open to dialogue to resolve the world’s many ...

Vatican liturgy office issues guidelines for catechist ministry

the vatican’s liturgy office on monday issued a rite and guidelines for the institution of lay catechists in the dioceses of the catholic ch...

Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis decries global ‘retreat from democracy’ in Athens speech

pope francis lamented a global “retreat from democracy” in a speech on saturday in athens, the cradle of western civilization. the pope was ...

Fra' Matthew Festing, British-born Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, laid to rest after Requiem in Valletta

fra’ matthew festing, the 79th grand master of the sovereign order of malta, has been laid to rest following a funeral in valletta. a mighty...

The genial prince who could stir Rome up

fra’ matthew festing who has died aged 71 in valletta, malta, was the 79th grand master of the sovereign military order of malta. he was the...

John Martin Robinson

Diary: Memories of Christmas down the years and across the seas

it was when i first saw uncle john harman’s black trousers protruding under father christmas’s scarlet robe that my world changed. up till t...

Papal puddings

hearing i was planning a piece on the church’s penchant for puddings, dante, my naughty godson, immediately dived into google, determined to...

Anthony Cazalet

An ode to the Isle of Wight's intriguing Catholic Churches

the second catholic relief act of 1791 marked the start of a century-plus of the building of  a series of interesting catholic chu...

Rhodes to past glories

'these islands are really heavenly when the weather allows,” wrote lawrence durrell about rhodes in 1946 when he was stationed in the dodeca...