Charles Coulombe, Author at Catholic Herald

Charles Coulombe

September 26, 2019

One of the many joys of my youth was perusing the Saturday religion section of the Los Angeles Times. Among other things in the babbling brook of competing sects that is the religious life of the City of Angels, in those far-off days innumerable varieties of “New Thought” schools advertised their wares. One that caught

Heretic of the week: Robert Browne

September 19, 2019

Rather obscure today, Robert Browne (1550s-1633) is arguably one of the most important figures in Anglo-American religious history. Born to a gentry family in Rutland, Browne graduated from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1572. During his time at Cambridge he converted to Puritanism – which, at the time, wished simply to purge the Church of

Heretic of the week: Johannes Ronge

September 12, 2019

Johannes Ronge (1813-1887) was founder successively of the “New” or “German” Catholics, and of several “Free Thought” groups. Born during the Napoleonic Wars at Bischofswalde, Prussia (now Biskupów, Poland), Ronge grew up during a period of intellectual and cultural ferment. Ordained in 1840, within a year he published an article attacking the primacy of the

Heretic of the week: Miguel de Molinos

September 05, 2019

Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696) was a Spanish priest renowned as the founder of the Quietist heresy. Trained at a Jesuit school and ordained in 1652, he joined the Valencia branch of a brotherhood called the School of Christ, which was somewhat aligned with the Oratory of St Philip Neri and had spread throughout the Spanish

Heretic of the week: Ralph Waldo Emerson

August 29, 2019

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) is considered to be one of the greatest writers the United States has ever produced. Generations of schoolchildren have read his essays, and his opinions have been drilled into students as the epitome of American individualism and rectitude. His influence, moreover, has been reinforced by his disciples, such as Henry David Thoreau.

Heretic of the week: Charles Webster Leadbeater

August 22, 2019

CW Leadbeater (1854-1934) was a most remarkable – not to say bizarre – man. Of middle-class background, he was ordained an Anglican clergyman in 1879; three years later he was a curate at Bramshott in Hampshire. He might have remained there indefinitely, but a short time after moving there, the young cleric discovered first spiritualism

Heretic of the week: The Count of St Germain

August 15, 2019

The annals of heresy give one many strange figures to contemplate. But definitely in the running for the title of strangest of all is the bizarre and mysterious Count of St Germain (1253? 1691? 1712?–1784? 1837? Not Yet?). In the mid-18th century, the Count moved between the various Royal Courts of Europe, claiming to be

Heretic of the week: Dolores Ibarruri

August 08, 2019

Dolores Ibarruri (1895-1989) – better known as La Pasionaria – was an icon to the Communists and Socialists of the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War, as well as to their ideological offspring and co-dependents today. Born to poor but devout parents, a Basque father and Castilian mother, Dolores was encouraged to go to teachers school by

What will you reap? An Anglo-Saxon tradition to help us take stock

August 08, 2019

August 1, in the traditional calendar of the Roman Rite the feast of St Peter in Chains, is also in the English agricultural calendar Lammas Day. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon for “Loaf-Mass”, commemorating the old custom of baking a loaf of bread from the first grain harvested at this time, and having it

Heretic of the week: Maximilien Robespierre

August 01, 2019

Most people think of Robespierre (1758-1794) simply as a bloody-handed mass murderer. But there was another side to the master of the Terror. Born in Arras to a family of the minor nobility, when he was 11 he received a scholarship from his bishop, Hilaire de Conzié, to study at the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand in

Heretic of the week: Julius Evola

July 25, 2019

Julius Evola (1898-1974) was an extraordinarily bizarre and colourful individual, who must be considered to be the father of European right-wing magical paganism. Born in Rome of humble Sicilian parentage (he was not a baron, for all that he is claimed to have been one), he studied engineering, became a talented artist and writer, and

Heretic of the week: Ignatius Loyola Donnelly

July 18, 2019

Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (1831-1901) was born in Philadelphia to an Irish Catholic immigrant family. His father, a doctor, died young, and his mother opened a pawnshop. Nevertheless, he grew up in comfortable surroundings. His family home often hosted groups of Catholic intellectuals. Thanks to his mother’s hard work, he was able to attend Philadelphia’s prestigious Central High.

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