Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

January 05, 2017

Call me a snowflake, but students of Christianity really do need a trigger warning

January 05, 2017

The Church's history can be horrifically distressing – I've long warned my first-year theology students about it

To rebuild you need hope, not optimism, Pope tells earthquake survivors

January 05, 2017

Pope Francis greeted thousands of Italian earthquake survivors at the Vatican

A third of the US Congress is Catholic

January 05, 2017

The proportion represents a rise in Catholics and a fall in the number of Protestants in recent decades

Ten stories to watch in 2017

January 05, 2017

Last year proved beyond all doubt that journalists are terrible at predicting the future. Few commentators foresaw Brexit, the emergence of François Fillon in France or Donald Trump’s presidency. With that in mind, we offer this guide to 10 topics that are likely to feature prominently in coverage of the Catholic Church in 2017. They

The big story of the past seven days

January 05, 2017

✣ Francis orders inquiry into Order of Malta row What happened? Pope Francis has ordered an inquiry after a controversy broke out at the highest levels of the Order of Malta. Albrecht von Boeselager, the Grand Chancellor of the order, was asked to resign after allegations that he had concealed problems in a previous role. He

The best of the Catholic blogosphere

January 05, 2017

✣ Highlights from the week online How Sherlock Holmes deduced the afterlife At the National Catholic Register, Sherlock Holmes fan Dan Andriacco went sleuthing – on the trail of Sherlock’s faith. Holmes wasn’t a Catholic, but he seems to be a believer of some sort. He says that flowers demonstrate “the goodness of Providence” – a

Poll reveals ‘most spiritual’ parts of Britain

January 05, 2017

A poll for the Times has found that the Midlands and Wales are the “most spiritual” parts of Britain. Only 31 per cent of respondents in the two regions said there was no “God or greater spiritual power”. In London and the North, the figure was 44 per cent. Atheist materialism was also stronger among

Prince: persecution of Christians overlooked

January 05, 2017

Prince Charles has said that the scale of anti-Christian persecution is “not widely appreciated” and that for many people in the Middle East religious freedom is a matter of “life and death”. Speaking on Radio 4’s Thought for the Day slot, the Prince of Wales recalled: “In London recently I met a Jesuit priest from

Kidnapped priest in desperate appeal to Pope

January 05, 2017

A video has emerged of Salesian Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, who was kidnapped by terrorists last year, in which the priest appeals for his release. The new footage has has led to widespread calls for diplomatic efforts to end his captivity. The priest was kidnappedduring an attack in March on a nursing home in Yemen run

China tells bishops: follow socialism, not Rome

January 05, 2017

A leading Chinese politician has told the country’s Catholics to promote socialism and keep their distance from Rome. Speaking after a meeting with China’s state-approved official Church, Yu Zhengsheng said churches should conform themselves to “socialism with Chinese characteristics” – that is, the model of authoritarian rule and economic liberalisation which China’s Communist Party has

Cause opens for mystic who bore stigmata

January 05, 2017

The diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, has formally opened the Cause of the woman who inspired Mother Angelica to become a nun. More than 1,000 people attended the Mass marking the occasion in St Peter’s Church in the city of Canton last month. Rhoda Wise (1888-1948) was raised Protestant but converted to Catholicism. Towards the end

Cardinals ‘may correct Pope privately’

January 05, 2017

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, one of the four cardinals who have asked Pope Francis to reaffirm Church teaching, has discussed the possibility of a “fraternal correction” of the Pope. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Cardinal Brandmüller said that such a correction would probably be made first “in camera caritatis” – an expression