Charles Coulombe, Author at Catholic Herald

Charles Coulombe

February 07, 2019

Arnold of Brescia (1090-1155) was, oddly enough, born in Brescia, Italy. Joining a house of Augustinian canons in his native city, Arnold rose to become prior of the monastery. He began preaching what he called “Apostolic Poverty”, by which he meant that the Church should own nothing – most especially real estate. At the time,

Heretic of the week: Ulrich Zwingli

January 31, 2019

Ulrich (or Huldrych) Zwingli (1484-1531) is considered to be, alongside Luther and Calvin, one of the three “Fathers of the Reformation”. Yet although we have Lutherans and Calvinists, few if any would describe themselves as “Zwinglian” today. The reason for that odd fact lies in Zwingli’s life and his manner of leaving it. Zwingli was

King Charles I, Founding Father

January 31, 2019

What was “Washington’s Birthday” is quickly approaching us: now often redubbed “Presidents’ Day”, the repackaging allows us to forget “Lincoln’s Birthday” earlier in the month – which is now celebrated on the Monday closest to February 22, the actual day. In any case, thinking of George Washington, “the Father of His Country” and our first

Heretic of the week: Mary Baker Eddy

January 24, 2019

Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) was born in Bow, New Hampshire, and raised in a Calvinist household. The nascent intellectual in Mary rebelled against the concept of radical predestination. Early on her parents attempted to break her strong will; the combination of punishments and repeated bouts of ill health reduced her to near invalidism. She married

From Daniel Rudd to Thea Bowman: black Catholics have made a huge contribution to America

January 21, 2019

Martin Luther King Day, which falls on January 21 in 2019, honours the memory of Civil Rights leader, Reverend Martin Luther King. Traditionally, this observance ushers in National Black History Month in February. Both these celebrations invite Americans of all races to reflect on the struggles of blacks to attain civil rights in the wake

Catholics belong at Burns Night

January 17, 2019

Last January 25 and next January 25, I took and shall take part in a ritual at once solemn and amusing, timeless and spontaneous – not part of the Church’s liturgy, yet at the same time a fitting companion to the more liturgical observances of the Month of the Holy Name. Despite it being observed

Heretic of the week: Mani

January 17, 2019

Mani (216-274) was an Iranian who lived during the transition of power in Persia from the foreign Parthians to the native Sassanid dynasty – and enjoyed favour among the latter, at least for a time. He was born during a period of great religious ferment in the Near East. The dominant religion in Persia was

Heretic of the week: George Tyrrell

January 10, 2019

George Tyrrell (1861-1909) was the posthumous son of an Anglican journalist in Dublin. Raised in poverty, he converted in 1879 and joined the Jesuits the following year. After being ordained in 1891, he was posted to the prestigious Jesuit secondary school Stonyhurst (successor to its college at St Omer, France, where Archbishop John Carroll and

Heretic of the week: Menno Simons

January 03, 2019

Menno Simons (1496-1561) was a Catholic priest from Friesland in what is now the Netherlands, but in his time was ruled by Spain. He was born in a town called Witmarsum, while his peasant father owned and farmed land in neighbouring Pingjum. His education was poor; while he was taught Latin and some Greek and

Remembering our many Epiphany traditions

January 03, 2019

One of the sad byproducts of the endless “Holiday Season” that stretches from Halloween on (or, in recent years, even earlier – creating a weird Nightmare Before Christmas feeling in many stores), is that many people are thoroughly sick of Christmas by the time it arrives. The next day the tree goes out – or

How America helped revive the Boar’s Head feast

December 20, 2018

We Americans have a way of taking European customs and cultural items, reinventing them to our liking, and as often as not sending them back (or at least trying to) to the Mother Continent. So it has been with Disney’s Fantasyland (based on European folktales), historical re-enactment, Renaissance “faires”, the Society for Creative Anachronism, and

Heretic of the week

December 20, 2018

“Mother” Ann Lee (1736-1784) was born to a family of poor English Quakers in Manchester. Baptised at age six in what is now the Anglican Manchester Cathedral, she went through several jobs growing up, and was forced by her father to marry; she had four children, all of whom died in infancy. She claimed then

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