The month of March is usually when tourists flock to the Eternal City after the cold winter months and pilgrims come to pray at many holy sites during the Lenten season

Comment & Features The Church is at the forefront of the global response to coronavirus – David Paton In coronavirus-hit Macao, we’re in lockdown. But it’s not all gloom – Stephen Morgan Ten countries have no abuse guidelines. Can a task force change that? – The Catholic Herald Diary: Pubs should be dog-friendly – but

There are 10 countries in which the Catholic Church has no child protection policies whatsoever. That was the startling statistic that emerged last week as the Vatican marked the first anniversary of its historic summit aimed at fighting the scourge of abuse around the world. In 2011, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the

It was all couched in the most cordial terms. But last weekend there occurred an exchange of letters which, in Vatican terms, was the closest thing to “pistols at dawn” since Archbishop Viganò and Cardinal Ouellet exchanged pleasantries in the papers last year. The letters concerned the Vatican’s 2018 arrangement with mainland China regarding episcopal

There was a “meeting point” at the Holy See press office last week to present the Vatican’s new “task force” for helping bishops’ conferences and religious orders craft abuse policy. Briefly, what journos in attendance learned was that a coterie of experts – not named – will be coordinated by Andrew Azzopardi, an experienced Maltese

The long-lost remains of one of medieval England’s most important Catholic architectural masterpieces have been rediscovered. For centuries, its precise location had been a mystery – and until now scholars had not known exactly how big it was or even what it had looked like. However, following archaeological investigations, researchers have now been able, for

The self-appointed religious leader really captures something close to the American spirit. Examples of the type can be seen across all regions and all races, from Wallace Fard, who organised black Detroiters into the Nation of Islam, to the founder of Christian Science, who was the kind of lunatic who could have only come from

Since February 23, 40 people have been killed in the riots in north-east Delhi, including the tragic loss of life of an 85-year-old woman who was burnt to death in her home. Two hundred people have also been injured during what have been described as India’s worst riots in decades. And at the heart of

Last October, Chile was in the news for all the wrong reasons: during anti-government protests, revolutionary groups, largely made up of communists and anarchists, were violently targeting Catholic churches. It is estimated that 18 churches have been burned and looted in the capital city, Santiago. In January, the police’s preferred place of worship, Iglesia San Francisco

Sinking up to my shins in mud, I was forced to dig a moat around the horses’ shelter to try to drain away rainwater so they had a dry shavings bed to lie in at night. With the wind and rain lashing us as trees bent double and groaned, the horses began racing around. After

Fr Joseph Huu is the perfect illustration of the Church in action. Working within an area of Vietnam completely quarantined off due to worries over the coronavirus, he is coordinating health services and pastoral care in the area, taking supplies and advice to villages throughout the area. Just as importantly, he is arranging for Eucharistic

The combination of a highly infectious disease, large numbers of tourists and the most densely populated city on earth made Macao look like a pretty dangerous place as news of the coronavirus began to seep out from China’s Hubei province in January. That the city has had only 10 cases, none of them fatal, is