James Jeffrey, Author at Catholic Herald

James Jeffrey

Pilgrimage standoff: Assisi v. Santiago de Compostela, which comes out on top?

February 18, 2024

Can one commit pilgrimage “adultery”? In the months of planning leading up to taking a group of Catholic Herald pilgrims along a portion of La Via di Francesco—the Way of Saint Francis—to Assisi in Italy, I felt a strange sense of unease about how I might be engaged in a form of betrayal. For my peregrino pilgrim

A Valentine’s Day reflection on Terni: the Italian home of Saint Valentine

February 14, 2024

The Catholic Herald knows all about where Saint Valentine comes from. His hometown of Terni, about 60 kilometres north of Rome, is where we started our Via di Francesco Camino pilgrimage to Assisi during October 2023. This Valentine’s Day, though, I am not sure many couples will be romancing there. As Herald editor William Cash notes: “on

Brussels can feel like a city that has abandoned God

February 04, 2024

Working and living in Brussels can feel like finding yourself marooned in enemy territory. A friend who once worked there on human rights legislation cautioned me that the city is “full of nets” with which to trap you – as well as full of “Satanists”. It was hard to know how figurative he was being.

Unexpected Santander Angelus amid echoes of Covid mania

January 16, 2024

In the bottom-left corner of the cathedral’s nave an old priest sat on a wooden chair with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders against the cold stones surrounding him. It indeed felt rather bracing inside the Cathedral of Santander that Saturday morning to say the least. Spain’s northern Cantabria region had been enjoying milder temperatures

New iconography course at Ealing Abbey aims to ‘galvanise’ Catholic art scene in UK

December 23, 2023

The declaration by the Fathers of the Second Council of Nicaea in AD 787 on the value of producing sacred images and art works is about to get a belated boost. The London-based Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey is launching in 2024 the UK’s first iconography diploma course run by Catholics for the Catholic Church.

Saint Francis, tourist crowds and the peace of pilgrimage: the contradictions of Assisi

November 10, 2023

There’s every chance that Saint Francis of Assisi would be mystified, if not appalled, by the city that is famous because of him. Lavishly-endowed basilicas, coachloads of tourists and pilgrims swarming around his tomb, the money-making machine that any modern pilgrim site is nowadays. It all represents the antithesis of what Il Poverello – “the

James Jeffrey’s Catholic Herald pilgrimage guide to Assisi

August 03, 2023

Umbria in Italy beckons for the next Catholic Herald pilgrimage at the end of September. We are venturing beyond the Iberian Peninsula to walk the Via di Francesco Camino to the hilltop town of Assisi. La Via di Francesco Camino is inextricably bound up with St Francis – his feast day is on October 4,

Bearing witness on back-to-back Caminos

July 12, 2023

As the Litany of the Saints reverberated down Rúa do Franco, I couldn’t have felt more self-conscious. It sounded like there was some latter-day Crusader army behind me due to the acoustic effect caused by the narrow alley’s granite walls magnifying the voices behind me. We were getting a lot of attention. Heads were turning,

La Dolce Vita: On the Via di Francesco to Assisi with the Catholic Herald

July 08, 2023

Umbria in Italy beckons for the next Catholic Herald pilgrimage at the end of September. We are venturing beyond the Iberian Peninsula to walk the La Via di Francesco Camino to the hilltop town of Assisi. The La Via di Francesco Camino is inextricably bound up with St Francis—his feast day is on 4 October,

Going on pilgrimage feels like an act of rebellion against secular modern society, and it’s on the rise in Britain

April 04, 2023

Is it me or can Catholics be a bit headstrong these days? I asked myself that question after attempting to marshal the Catholic Herald’s latest pilgrimage from Coimbra to Fátima. We all got to the end and, despite some narrowing of eyes over route distance estimations and the assured presence of café breaks that didn’t materialise, without mutiny.

Pilgrim’s diary: the Catholic Herald heads to Fátima

March 18, 2023

As the Harry Potter-esque black-caped students that the Portuguese city of Coimbra is famous for were heading to classes early in the morning, in the opposite direction trooped a gaggle of Catholic Herald pilgrims heading for 8 a.m. Mass in the city’s Carmelo de Santa Teresa. It’s the Carmelite convent where Sister Lucia, one of

The Catholic argument against 15-minute cities

March 13, 2023

Suddenly there’s a lot of talk and media coverage around the concept of so-called 15-minute cities. The idea is that everything you need to live well in an urban setting – healthcare, education, food, employment, cultural life – should be easily reachable within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from any point in a town

← 1 2 3 4 →

Sorry, no search matching search results found. Please try again.