Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

November 25, 2021

Channel drownings ‘a tragic summons to action’, says Cardinal Nichols

November 25, 2021

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has spoken of his sorrow at the drownings of 27 migrants in the English Channel. A pregnant woman and three children were among the dead in the worst tragedy in the Channel since the migrant crisis began as they tried to cross in a boat one French Minister likened to a paddling

EU ruling over abortion harms us all

November 25, 2021

The birth of the Christ child is an occasion to reflect on other babies and on life in the womb that precedes birth. The most dispiriting development recently in respect of prenatal human life is the European Parliament’s vote last month, directed mainly at Poland, but having far wider implications. Andrew Tettenborn examines its implications

The Father’s Christmas presence

November 25, 2021

There is something perpetually moving about the Christmas story. It is the account of how God became man, and, with magnificent indifference to human preoccupations with status and accomplishments, became man in a discomfiting fashion. The girl who became his mother was unmarried, her pregnancy understandably a profound shock to the man she was betrothed

A lockdownless Christmas

November 25, 2021

Christmas celebrations this year will, thank God, be very different from the last. Ordinary life has for the most part resumed in Britain; in some respects, churches lag behind other parts of society in returning to normal. Many parish churches still require masks, social distancing, taped-off pews and thus limit the size of congregations. Others

The Christmas Stories

November 25, 2021

How the four Masses of Christmas use different readings from the Gospels to tell the story of Christ’s coming

The long shadow of Covid

November 25, 2021

Stephen Bullivant examines how the pandemic has affected Mass-going in one anonymous diocese

Rhodes to past glories

November 25, 2021

After 44 years, William Cash returns to this ancient island which for centuries was Christianity’s easternmost frontier

Pope Francis recognizes miracle attributed to WWII martyr Bl. Titus Brandsma’s intercession

November 25, 2021

Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to Titus Brandsma, an outspoken opponent of Nazism martyred at Dachau concentration camp in 1942. The pope authorized Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to issue a decree on Nov. 25 approving the miracle. The decision paves the way for the Dutch Carmelite

Tessa’s Feasts: Our festive goose is well and truly cooked

November 25, 2021

I have chosen St Martin of Tours this month. As the patron saint of geese, he’s an obvious choice for December. I’m giving you an easy, foolproof recipe for roast goose with polenta roast potatoes, and my second recipe is for goose rillettes to use up any left over meat. The roasting time for the goose

Open your homes to refugees fleeing the Taliban, bishop urges the faithful

November 25, 2021

Catholics in England and Wales are to be asked to find homes for thousands of Afghanistan refugees fleeing the Taliban. Parishes will be requested to make large houses available for extended families and to provide the Muslim refugees with such items as clothing and computer technology. Ordinary Catholics will be encouraged to befriend the Afghans

Ethics committee authorizes first assisted suicide in Italy

November 25, 2021

The Catholic Church in Italy said that life must be “protected and defended” after local health authorities in Italy gave the green light to the country’s first legally obtained assisted suicide. The ethics committee of the health service of the Italian city of Ancona ruled on Nov. 23 that a 43-year-old Italian man met the

Painting at center of George Floyd controversy stolen from Catholic University

November 25, 2021

A pieta painting displayed at The Catholic University of America’s law school that some see as depicting George Floyd in the place of Jesus was stolen Tuesday night, the school announced. But in an email Wednesday, Nov. 24, President John Garvey said the artwork — which sparked a social media backlash and an ongoing petition