Samuel Gregg, Author at Catholic Herald

Samuel Gregg

Olivier Roy: an impartial observer of Europe’s crises

August 08, 2019

Is Europe Christian? By Olivier Roy Hurst, 112pp, £14.99/$19.99 Everything seems to be about identity these days: politics, culture – even religion. Some of this is directed at persuading people that they should support a particular view simply because they belong to a particular group. In other cases, reflection on identity issues is a way

French Catholics find unlikely allies in the fight against IVF

August 01, 2019

In recent years some of the most contentious debates in France have concerned what are conventionally called “social issues”. Changes to France’s marriage laws in 2013 produced mass opposition from across the political spectrum. This year, l’affaire Vincent Lambert sparked heated debate about whether the government was trying to legalise euthanasia by stealth. It’s in this

Is France about to follow Belgium on euthanasia?

July 18, 2019

It’s escaped most of the world’s attention, but France has been fixated in recent months on the case of Vincent Lambert a 42-year-old brain-damaged man who died on July 11 as a result of being starved and dehydrated to death. L’affaire Vincent Lambert has been marked by public protests against the successful effort to deny

Rebuilding Notre-Dame will pit Church against state – again

April 25, 2019

The Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, is renowned for his calm demeanor and easy-going manner. That made it all the more significant when, during a recent radio interview following President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation about the burning of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Aupetit expressed his astonishment at Macron’s failure to mention Catholics as among those

The French Church after Cardinal Barbarin

March 14, 2019

The conviction of Lyon’s archbishop, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, by a French court on March 7 for failing to report alleged sexual abuse by a priest of his archdiocese has further fuelled the sense that the Church faces one of its most serious crises since the Reformation. Barbarin is the first cardinal to be convicted by a

France’s churches are under attack, but the establishment doesn’t seem to care

February 21, 2019

During the French Revolution’s worst years, some of the most visible expressions of violence involved attacks on the Church, which was perceived as a pillar of the ancien régime. Revolutionaries slaughtered numerous clergy and expelled thousands of others. They expropriated Church-owned property and occasionally ransacked and burnt churches. It was hard not to recall these

Outside Paris, French people are more socially conservative than politicians think

January 24, 2019

For three months, France has been swamped by protests from thousands of French citizens whose patience with their nation’s political establishment has snapped. Far from fading, the gilets jaunes have reduced France’s president Emmanuel Macron to engaging in televised listening sessions across the country. Such is the situation in which “Jupiter” – as he’s dubbed

France: Saving Europe

May 31, 2018

Cardinal Sarah has given a vivid diagnosis of what ails the West Sometimes a family needs someone from the outside to tell it hard truths. That’s precisely what Cardinal Robert Sarah, the African-born prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, did last month in a Pentecost homily delivered to thousands of young Catholics who had

Why is Macron courting the Church?

April 19, 2018

Macron wants Catholics to be more involved in public life. Could France's secular settlement be under threat?

Macron’s manoeuvres

April 19, 2018

For a few days this month, France experienced a relapse into the type of anti-Catholic rhetoric that, 100 years ago, would have thrilled half the country and infuriated everyone else. Laurence Rossignol, the former Socialist government minister, denounced Catholics for trying to restrict access to IVF and abortion, and seeking to stop euthanasia’s legalisation. Her

Secularism, the new ancien régime

February 02, 2017

François Fillon’s successful campaign for the nomination of the centre-right Les Républicains party for this year’s presidential election has moved religion to the forefront of French political life. Fillon’s willingness to talk about his Catholic faith’s influence on his thoughts on matters ranging from economics to euthanasia is not something that the French are accustomed

Secularism, the new ancien régime

February 01, 2017

Espousing Catholicism used to be fatal to a French politician’s chances. The arrival of François Fillon shows how much the nation has changed

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