Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

February 13, 2019

This last January 30, I was present in London for two very interesting occurrences. The first was a wreath-laying ceremony at the equestrian statue of King Charles I in Trafalgar Square; the second was an Anglo-Catholic style Anglican Mass at the Banqueting House. That evening, at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, there was a

Pope signs decree recognising second Newman miracle

February 13, 2019

Blessed John Henry Newman is headed for sainthood. Pope Francis on Tuesday authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to issue a decree attributing a miracle to the intercession of the great 19th century convert. The move clears the final hurdle in the cause of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman’s Cause for canonisation. The

Bishop moves Sacrament of Confirmation back to before First Communion

February 13, 2019

Bishop James Wall of Gallup has announced in a pastoral letter the restoration of the order of the sacraments of initiation in the mission diocese. Once the new policy is implemented, children will receive Confirmation and First Holy Communion in the same Mass, at around the age of 7 or 8. “Receiving the Sacrament of

McCarrick may be ‘laicized’ this week. What does that mean?

February 13, 2019

Archbishop Theodore McCarrick will reportedly be laicized this week, if he is found guilty of having sexually abused minors. But what does it mean to be “laicized,” “defrocked,” or “dismissed from the clerical state?” Ordination, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “confers a gift of the Holy Spirit that permits the exercise of a

Morning Catholic must-reads: 13/02/19

February 13, 2019

Haiti’s bishops have declared that the country is “on the edge of the abyss”. A new book claims that “around 80 per cent of clerics working in the Roman Curia are gay”. The Pope has approved new norms for the Office of the General Auditor. Citizens of Geneva have backed a new law banning public

On assisted suicide, we doctors cannot afford to be neutral

February 13, 2019

Assisted suicide is back in the news: Britain’s Royal College of Physicians has decided to survey its membership on the question. But this time there’s a catch. The last time the RCP consulted its members, in 2014, the majority of doctors said that they opposed an “assisted dying” law (as it is euphemistically called). But