SPIRITED THINKING SINCE 1888
Niall Gooch

A tribute to priests
July 26, 2022
  The assistant priest of our parish – long since retired but still regularly saying Mass – died a couple of weeks ago. Sadly I didn’t really know Fr Francis. A former Anglican, he served for almost twenty years at an Anglo-Catholic parish in our town before being received into the Church in 1997. He
In defence of politicians
July 14, 2022
As Catholics, we need to be more understanding of the dilemmas our politicians face, writes Niall Gooch
It is a scandal that US bishops will not stand up to Biden over abortion
May 18, 2022
Does the Church hierarchy believe Church teaching about the sacraments?
If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments
May 05, 2022
The need to have laws to stop men staring at women inappropriately has come about due to the moral and spiritual problems in our society
The spiritual danger of watching war footage
April 12, 2022
The prevalence of war footage encourages people to celebrate the suffering of their enemies.
Humility among clerics is what is needed to stamp out sex abuse in the Church
March 28, 2022
As a Catholic, it is appalling to watch the Church fail time and again to prevent abusers from re-offending
Vowing to revive monasticism
January 24, 2022
As monastic communities dwindle, we must strive all the more to imitate Christ
The true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
December 23, 2021
Ours is a universal church with a message of hope for all mankind
Thy will be done
December 06, 2021
We will often disagree on what justice looks like
Christian culture must be defended at all costs
November 17, 2021
The end of Christendom will bring many trials and difficulties for Catholics
Can the “Synod on Synodality” help the church?
October 27, 2021
Will the "synod on synodality" be helpful or constructive for the Church?
On the urgent need for better homilies
October 14, 2021
The length, style and quality of homilies is a subject for debate within the Church
The cautionary tale of Breaking Bad
June 28, 2022
Pride and resentment can lead to desperately bad decisions
Learning to forgive
May 27, 2022
Without religious faith, secular society struggles to come to terms with its failures
Symbolic stance
April 29, 2022
Churches must take care, when hanging flags, to differentiate between the political and the eternal
Rock of Ages
March 30, 2022
The Carthusian motto reminds us of the Church’s constancy in times of peril
Finding the key to an interior life
February 28, 2022
A delightful book, published in 1948, still has the power to entrance children
The steep and rugged pathway
January 27, 2022
Lent looms. But for members of Exodus 90, a sort of rigorous abstinence the Desert Fathers might recognise has been a way of life since 17 January
Unwelcome alteration
December 26, 2021
On the 30th anniversary of its publication, a book about the Reformation explains how Christianity was robbed of its magic and mystery
Maintaining the Christmas spirit
December 01, 2021
The secret to overcoming the anticlimax of January is to set oneself easy goals
Oh, for a clearer walk with God
October 21, 2021
If homilies are to be engaging, regardless of length, a greater effort must be made, while training candidates for the priesthood, in how to speak
Following St Francis
October 02, 2021
On 4 October 2003, the Feast Day of Saint Francis, I arrived in Santiago de Compostela, having completed the Camino Frances, the pilgrimage route which crosses northern Spain from the Pyrenees. After queuing for our certificates of completion, my walking companions and I hurried to the midday pilgrims’ Mass at the magnificent Gothic cathedral. It
Squabbling over the Old Rite
August 29, 2021
The internal debate about the Latin Mass has little effect on the Church’s outreach and is unlikely to reverse the decline of Catholicism in the West
The Poetry of The Mass
May 24, 2021
That many aspects of God’s nature and plans remain mysterious, at least during our earthly lives, has been a longstanding theme of Christian writing.
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