Mark Lambert, Author at Catholic Herald

Mark Lambert

Cardinal Sarah finally speaks out on Fiducia Supplicans

January 09, 2024

Cardinal Robert Sarah has given his first in-depth and public interview on Fiducia Supplicans, the controversial new document on same-sex blessings from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released in December. The former Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship, the Vatican’s Liturgical Office now headed by former Bishop of Leeds Cardinal

Bishop Barron’s ‘politely excoriating’ assessment of the Synod on Synodality

November 27, 2023

Last week Bishop Robert Barron released a statement about the “Synod on Synodality”, which he attended, in which he is politely excoriating of both the manner and depth of reflection that took place. He has added his voice to a growing chorus of critics, including Archbishop Fisher of Sydney, Archbishop Wilson of Southwark and Archbishop Gądecki, president of the Polish Bishop’s Conference, as

The growing rift between the Vatican and USCCB

November 23, 2023

Last week the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their “Fall Plenary Assembly” in Baltimore. There seem to have been two main stories which have emerged from this event. One is the continuing insistence on the pre-eminence of abortion, with U.S. bishops approving a voting guide affirming this, despite resistance from Pope Francis’s

How Baptists enlightened a devout Catholic to the unharnessed power of the Gospel

November 03, 2023

Rather exotically for a well-formed and serious Catholic believer, I am quite well embedded with my local Baptist community, a relationship which was the result of the interdenominational curiosity of my autistic son, resulting in our attending an Alpha course and joining a home group. Our relationship has been cultivated over a couple of years

We need to do more to educate young Catholics in the Faith

August 10, 2023

I have just returned from Lourdes where we (representatives of the Brentwood diocese) joined the annual diocesan pilgrimage along with several other English dioceses including Liverpool and Lancaster. I was very encouraged to see so much vitality from English Catholics on pilgrimage. Lourdes is where the Catholic world comes together and if you are a

Faithful Catholics follow bishops who offer true and courageous leadership

June 19, 2023

My parish priest is also Vicar General for Brentwood Diocese. He has recently returned from one of his bi-annual meetings of vicars general, which took place in Salford. He remarked at the weekend that his colleagues had all recounted the same story: apathy rules. Mass indifference is, it seems, the Catholic reality across the country.

Why the synod process will eventually fail

March 28, 2023

Early this month, a colloquium was held at Boston College called “The Way Forward: Pope Francis, Vatican II and Synodality”. The gathering was the second meeting of this particular group of 80 participants to discuss synodality, the amorphous call by Pope Francis for the Church to “walk together”, to continue the reception of Vatican II.

Jesuit artist Father Rupnik has been practising ministry despite Vatican restrictions

December 06, 2022

A prominent Jesuit priest has been continuing to practise his ministry despite the fact that it was restricted by the Vatican in January 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct made against him. According to reports on a number of Italian news sites, 68-year-old Father Marko Ivan Rupnik was in January 2022 ordered to stop practising his ministry

Spots and leopards: China violates the Sino-Vatican Pact

November 27, 2022

In a surprising development from the Vatican yesterday, a statement was released revealing that Chinese authorities had violated the terms stipulated in the provisional agreement between the Chinese Communist Party and the Holy See on the appointment of bishops. The Vatican statement comes in response to the installation of Bishop John Peng Weizhao as an “auxiliary bishop

Cardinal Zen convicted: when will Rome speak up for him?

November 27, 2022

On Friday Cardinal Joseph Zen was found guilty of failing to register a now-disbanded humanitarian fund which paid medical and legal fees for pro-democracy protesters. He was among five people connected with the fund to be convicted. The 90-year-old cardinal was fined HK$4,000 (about £420), the same amount as barrister Margaret Ng, scholar Hui Po-keung, politician Cyd Ho and

Cardinals condemn German ‘Synodal Path’ in Vatican report

November 25, 2022

On Thursday the Vatican published reports prepared by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer and Cardinal Marc Ouellet which condemned the direction of Germany’s Synodal Path. Cardinal Ladaria, a Spanish Jesuit who serves as the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Ouellet, a Canadian who serves as the prefect of the Dicastery for

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