What English Catholicism will look like in 2115
An English Catholic in 1615 lived an entirely different life from one in the early 1700s, 1800s, 1900s or 2000s. The changing backdrops of the Elizabethan persecutions, the Jacobite revolutions, the...
View ArticleCatholic and Anglican bishops visit Calais migrant camp
Catholic and Anglican bishops from Britain and France have joined together to ask their countries to be more generous in response to the migrant crisis at Calais. Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark,...
View ArticleWill Christianity find a place in Corbyn’s Labour Party?
It was an enormous shock to Westminster watchers when veteran MP Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership of the Labour Party. Few people could have been more shocked than the new leader himself, who had...
View ArticleWales rugby coach amazed as priest ‘punches the air’ at victory over England
After defeating England in a historic victory at Twickenham last Saturday, the Wales rugby union assistant coach Shaun Edwards thought that offering a few quiet prayers of thanksgiving at Mass the next...
View ArticleAs we shut the door of my mother’s house, a little piece of Catholic England...
Three weeks ago my sister and I said goodbye to our family house. Our 92-year-old mother has moved into a care home just a couple of streets away from my sister. Things could have turned out a lot...
View ArticleKing Ethelbert: the Christian monarch whose influence is barely acknowledged...
An important anniversary took place on February 24. It was the 1400-year anniversary of the death of King Ethelbert – the first Anglo-Saxon king to become a Christian. Yet across England there was...
View ArticleCatholics prepare to take part in world-wide ‘Confession drive’
People across England and Wales will participate in a worldwide ‘Confession drive’ this weekend that has been initiated by Pope Francis, as an integral part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy celebrations....
View ArticlePodcast: Ed West on the New Religion of the Radical Rich
This week I spoke to journalist and former colleague, Ed West, Associate Director of UK2020, who writes this week about the rise of the Radical Rich, following the introduction of a law in North...
View ArticleUrgent action is needed to improve evangelisation in England and Wales
Statistics are always interesting, but the real question is how they are to be interpreted and the use we make of them. The Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society, based at St Mary’s University...
View ArticleCardinal jokes about England’s exit from Euro 2016
South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier took to Twitter to joke about England’s humiliating exit from the European Championships in France. On Monday night England lost the last-16 knockout match 2-1 to...
View ArticleDominicans to return communities in Glasgow and Durham to dioceses
The Dominican Friars have announced reorganisation plans with its communities in Glasgow and Durham to be returned to their respective dioceses. The English Province of the Dominicans released a...
View ArticleBritain does not want to leave Europe, just the EU, says Cardinal Nichols
The triggering of Article 50 following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union does not mean the country wants to leave Europe, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said....
View ArticleStatue of Our Lady of Walsingham to tour England
The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham is to begin a two-year tour of England’s Catholic cathedrals. The tour, which begins with a visit to Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral in June, is intended to help...
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