Pope Francis will join the Italian bishops, along with Catholics throughout Italy, and the faithful throughout the world, in praying the Rosary on Thursday evening, to implore the intercession of Our Lady against the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Pope Francis and the Italian bishops have asked all the faithful throughout the country to pray the Luminous

At noon on Sunday, March 29, thousands of Catholics will take part in the re-dedication of England as Mary’s Dowry. This act couldn’t be more timely, says Bishop Philip Egan in this week’s cover story – and not only because of the coronavirus. Also in this issue, Paola Frankopan describes life under lockdown in Rome. William Doino Jr names the saints

Last Friday, Pope Francis marked the seventh anniversary of his election. The occasion marked a new and wholly unexpected phase of his pontificate: that of the world’s most visible spiritual leader at a time of global crisis. Unlike other prominent figures, Francis was quick to grasp the seriousness of the rapid spread of the coronavirus

Looking at the way the supreme governor of the Church has managed the coronavirus crisis in Rome, two things are apparent: Pope Francis remains a master of the grand gesture; he also uses the institutional power at his disposal in atypical ways. Francis’s mastery of the grand gesture was amply on display Sunday afternoon, when

The Supreme Court last week declined to hear an appeal against the imposition of the first “buffer zone” around an abortion clinic in Britain. The 100m (330ft) exclusion zone around the Marie Stopes clinic in west London was approved by Ealing Council in April 2018, ostensibly to prevent harassment of clients and staff. The pro-life

The first message from the mainstream media about the coronavirus was to compare it to the flu. The second was to tell us to “bend the curve”, which meant asking people to take measures to quarantine themselves voluntarily, in an effort to slow the epidemic to a level that wouldn’t overwhelm the capacity of the

With the coronavirus pandemic gaining speed in the United States, especially on the West Coast, the crisis raises questions about what will happen to the poor and homeless of the country, who are disproportionately located there. California has long been at risk for epidemic disease. Poor sanitation in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco,

One of my uncles was a devout Catholic who was active in his parish even as a member of the parish council. Whenever European missionaries came to our village for Mass, they stayed at his house. Nevertheless, he had two wives with whom he had many children. Polygamy is deeply rooted in African culture. It

My 13-year-old son Isaac wants to follow in the footsteps of another East Anglian, Ed Sheeran. Skilful cajoling on his part met with hesitant moaning on mine, but last weekend he won. I made a grumpy foray down to a shed that had a load of junk in it. The junk was moved, the shed

Over the past decades, a religious revolution has taken place almost akin in its significance to the Reformation. The British have been quietly dropping their Christian faith, practices and church connections. A new secular culture, atheist and indifferentist, has been embedding itself. In the past when you asked someone their religion, they were likely to

An Anglican woman once told me about an ecumenical meeting she had attended. During a discussion about prayer, she had said: “I was once praying to Jesus, and …” Before she could finish, a Methodist woman interrupted, saying: “And Mary appeared to you.” She was amazed that the Methodist had known exactly what she was

Mary McAleese is still leaving the Catholic Church. Or considering it at least. Or threatening it. The former president of Ireland (1997-2011) wrote to Pope Francis after the Jean Vanier revelations saying that she would leave the Catholic Church “if it transpires that the Holy See failed to act to protect members of the L’Arche