SPIRITED THINKING SINCE 1888
August 06, 2020
Notre-Dame’s rebuilding: The battle over the future of the cathedral
August 06, 2020
After fifteen months of suspense during which designers from around the world have come up with the most audacious if not totally bizarre designs for Notre-Dame’s new spire and roof, we finally have a verdict. President Macron and the panel of experts presiding over the fate of the 850-year-old Gothic cathedral, which narrowly survived last
Tom Holland: Hagia Sophia is, or was, Christianity’s greatest church
August 06, 2020
In 532, amid the worst riots ever to sweep Constantinople, the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom – Hagia Sophia – went up in flames. Work on its replacement began barely a month later. Construction proceeded at a miraculous speed. Even though it took less than six years to complete, there was nothing remotely jerry-built about
Atomic bombs contrary to peace: Pope Francis 75 years after Hiroshima attack
August 06, 2020
'It has never been clearer that, for peace to flourish, all people need to lay down the weapons of war, and especially the most powerful and destructive of weapons: nuclear arms,' Pope Francis said
The myth of Biden the moderate
August 06, 2020
In the eyes of some, Joe Biden is a strong moderate who in beating Bernie Sanders showed that he can rein in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. A strong moderate is what many people believe is needed in a nation torn apart by opposing extremes. As William Kristol put it, “If you don’t want a
Robert Halfon’s Diary: I have a confession about my last visit to Poundland
August 06, 2020
If there is a sequel to The Truman Show, which starred the extraordinary Jim Carrey as a man whose entire life is a TV series, I should be sure to get the part. Over the course of lockdown, as a so-called “shielded” person, I have been Citrix-d, Duo’d, Googled, Skyped, Teamed and Zoomed. My life
Why East Africa’s huge new dam is causing political tensions
August 06, 2020
As Ethiopia prepares to open the continent’s largest hydroelectric dam, East African Catholic leaders have emphasised that water is a resource that must be shared equitably. The Nile passes through 11 countries, but the conflict over the dam pits Ethiopia against Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia constructed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile,
On trial for the murder of Jesuits, ex-minister denounces ‘a stream of lies’
August 06, 2020
Inocente Orlando Montano, a former colonel and deputy security minister in El Salvador, has been on trial in Spain for the 1989 murders of six Jesuits, a housekeeper and her daughter at a Catholic university. Montano was charged with planning the murder of the eight victims but pleaded not guilty.The trial resumed in Madrid on
The Church in Britain can do more for young black Catholics
August 06, 2020
On August 1 – by the time you read this – I will become the first British-born black priest of Brentwood diocese. While that’s really exciting, the fact that I’ll be the first British-born black priest from the diocese tells a story itself. The primary school I went to was in Hackney: St Dominic’s, a
A precious victory: How pro-lifers won a parliamentary battle
August 06, 2020
At the start of July, something unexpected happened: Britain’s pro-life movement, long accustomed to being on the losing side, scored a victory in parliament. Pro-abortion MPs had attempted to hijack the Domestic Abuse Bill by adding two amendments: one to introduce abortion for any reason up to 28 weeks, the other to allow both medical
A new handbook focuses on the unity between faith and life
August 06, 2020
For the first time in almost a quarter of a century, the Church has a new Directory for Catechesis. The Directory, essentially the Church’s authoritative handbook for passing on Christian truth and practice, was issued by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. It comes as the result of over five years
‘The main complaint isn’t money’: Silence falls on church choirs
August 06, 2020
We know relatively little about Covid-19, but some studies have concluded that it is especially likely to be spread via singing – a possibility which has had serious consequences for choirs. Official Government guidelines relating to the safe uses of places of worship during the pandemic have advised “there should be no group singing inside
Two dioceses and a college are in the spotlight after an abuse allegation
August 06, 2020
Last month the Catholic Herald published a major investigation into the handling – at several different levels of ecclesiastical governance – of an allegation of clerical sexual abuse. A young woman, Susanna (not her real name), alleges that the chaplain at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, Fr Kevin McGoldrick, sexually assaulted her in the rectory
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