Lent is a time when we dwell on our own sinfulness and seek the grace of repentance. We should not dwell on the sins of others. Sometimes, however, they are unavoidably brought to our attention. Last week brought a new “fallen idol”: Jean Vanier, revered founder of the l’Arche community. Vanier was hailed as an

In December last year, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople recognised an autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine. In doing so, he risked turning the longstanding rivalry between Constantinople and Moscow into open and enduring schism: he was establishing a new ecclesial body on territory over which Moscow still claims jurisdiction.   Almost a year later the

A year ago, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was a retired diplomat who was little known beyond the limited world of Vaticanologists. He had reached the senior position of apostolic nuncio to the United States in October 2011, but his retirement in 2016 would normally have signalled an end to his influence. On August 25, 2018,

On May 5, Pope Francis begins a three-day trip to Bulgaria. He will pray with members of the country’s Catholic minority (who number around 50,000), and lead an open-air prayer for peace in the presence of representatives of other religions in central Sofia. However, no official representatives of the majority Orthodox Church will be present.

Last October, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople announced the creation of a new autocephalous (self-governing) national Church in Ukraine. A council to bring this new body into being will meet on December 15. It is intended to heal the rift between the separate Orthodox churches in Ukraine. All three rival groups have been summoned to

Will the monks of Mount Athos side with Moscow or Constantinople? The rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople over Ukrainian autocephaly continues to threaten worldwide Orthodox unity. One as yet unclear potential consequence concerns the position of Mount Athos. Colonised by monks since the 9th century, the monastic enclave within

The youth synod’s final report resoundingly endorses ‘synodality’. This could be a positive step – once bishops have worked out what it means

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has often expressed the desire for a more “synodal” style of Church life, and commentators on Catholic affairs now increasingly speak of “synodality”. What do they mean? It is often suggested that “synodality” refers to the Church’s experience of journeying together. The verb syn-odeuō does indeed mean to

Tensions over Ukraine threaten to tear apart the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians

For centuries, the archbishops of Constantinople could credibly claim to be the “Ecumenical Patriarch”. Their see was the “New Rome”, centre of the oikoumenē, the “inhabited world”. Today, their successor, Patriarch Bartholomew, looks beleaguered. The guards around his residence in the Phanar quarter of Istanbul reveal his threatened position in an increasingly Islamified Turkey. But

A man who rose quietly through the Curia has become the most incendiary figure in the Church

How a man who rose quietly through the Curia became the most incendiary figure in the Catholic Church Anybody considering a career in the Roman Curia is well advised to avoid public controversy and be noticed only by the right people and in the right way. Last month, one man who had observed that code