Holy See

Pro-Beijing priest cancels Rome visit after appointment plans leaked

Fr Peter Choi Wai-man was due to meet Pope Leo XIV as part of a 12-person delegation, but the trip was abandoned after reports emerged that Hong Kong’s cardinal had lobbied for his appointment as auxiliary bishop.
Niwa Limbu

Paintings and perverts: the horrid legacy of Eric Gill

Eric Gill’s Annunciation is the centrepiece of a powerful exhibition at Ditchling Museum, where works of beauty sit uneasily alongside the artist’s crimes.
Camilla Harrison

Madrid auxiliary bishop dies suddenly aged 50

Bishop José Antonio Álvarez Sánchez, a key figure in the formation of priests in Madrid and vicar general of the archdiocese, has died of a heart attack just over a year after his episcopal consecration.
The Catholic Herald

Pope refuses to take sides in Senator Durbin award controversy

Instead the Pope stressed that the Church’s pro-life witness must extend beyond the abortion debate
The Catholic Herald

Senator Durbin rejects cardinal's award after outcry from US Church

The honour was to recognise the senator’s work on immigration reform and his support for migrants, causes that Cardinal Blase Cupich describes as urgently needed in today’s society
Niwa Limbu

The Catholic Church cannot ordain women: the Church is divine – and divinity doesn’t ‘adapt’  

Better to be called obstinate than to surrender the sacraments. Better to scandalise polite opinion than to mutilate what has been entrusted by God himself. Better to be decried as old-fashioned than to cease to be Catholic
Samantha Smith

Musical supremo John Gilhooly discusses his life, work and faith in Britain and Ireland

The artistic director of London's famous Wigmore Hall discusses how sacred music gets to parts of the psyche that rational argument doesn't reach, how 'it's easier to be a Catholic in Britain than in Ireland', and much more
Melanie McDonagh

Students create covert contraceptive supply system in defiance of Catholic university ban

Students at the largest Catholic university in the US have launched a covert contraception network after administrators shut down their Planned Parenthood-affiliated group.
The Catholic Herald

No peace in our time

Lucien de Guise reviews ‘Encounters: Giacometti x Mona Hatoum’ at the Barbican, a timely and unsettling exhibition exploring fragility, violence, and the human form.
Lucien de Guise

British archbishop calls out UN over silence on Christian persecution

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Archbishop Paul Gallagher accused world leaders of ignoring the plight of persecuted Christians, warning that over 360 million believers face violence or discrimination.
Thomas Edwards