As this dreadful pandemic sweeps the land, our NHS front-liners are giving their all to tend to us. Their heroic action reminds me of another hero, a young aristocrat from Turin, born in 1901: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Charismatic, with film-star looks, he loved skiing, horse-riding and above all climbing mountains. The life and soul

Over the past decades, a religious revolution has taken place almost akin in its significance to the Reformation. The British have been quietly dropping their Christian faith, practices and church connections. A new secular culture, atheist and indifferentist, has been embedding itself. In the past when you asked someone their religion, they were likely to

I recently attended a two-day conference in Steubenville, Ohio. Forty bishops were present, though I was the only one from across the pond. Some high-profile speakers gave addresses, including Fr James Mallon, author of Divine Renovation, the theologian George Weigel and Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). The conference was

Over the years, I have worked in several dioceses and contexts. I’ve often heard brother priests say things like: “We don’t know where we’re going. We need vision, a plan. Are we here just to maintain a dying structure?” The Church is Christ’s Body. It belongs to Him. His Holy Spirit leads us. Yet in

We arrived at the Residenza Madri Pie, five minutes’ walk from St Peter’s Basilica, on Sunday, in time for supper and an orientation session for the days ahead. Bishops, individually and in groups, have been making these visits Ad Limina Apostolorum (“to the thresholds of the Apostles”) since at least the 4th century. In the

Recently I spent a few days away from my diocese, but sadly every Catholic church I tried to call in on was locked shut. One I tried to go into to say a prayer even had a poster on its door proclaiming “From Maintenance to Mission”. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many Catholic churches up and

A locked church deprives people of a chance to visit the Lord

The Third Sunday of Lent Ex 17:3-7; Ps 95; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 Recently, I read an article about Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain in September 2010. You may recall the spiritual atmosphere on the streets of London, people dropping to their knees as his car passed by, and the awesome silence of the

Practising Catholics have a huge missionary responsibility. My own diocese – that of Portsmouth – has vast numbers of inactive Catholics waiting to be welcomed into a more active Eucharistic discipleship of the Lord. There are also vast numbers of people beyond the Church, many without a religious home, some spiritually and morally adrift, needing rescue and

If we are bold and imaginative, the Jubilee Year will transform not only our schools and parishes, but also the wider world

Recently, I visited a remarkable day centre in the south of England that cares for the homeless. It’s called The Vine Centre and it occupies a three-floor corner shop in Aldershot town centre, just near the station. Staffed largely by volunteers, the centre exists to help the neediest in north-east Hampshire. It runs a weekly

Recently, I visited a remarkable day centre in the south of England that cares for the homeless. It’s called The Vine Centre and it occupies a three-floor corner shop in Aldershot town centre, just near the station. Staffed largely by volunteers, the centre exists to help the neediest in north-east Hampshire. It runs a weekly