Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

June 02, 2023

She was a woman of power, principle and piety, who established a double monastery in Ely for monks and nuns, writes Charles Moseley. Travelling to Ely, and seeing the great Tower and Octagon of Ely Cathedral rising above the level fen, it looks as if it has always been there. But it hasn’t. The building

All Saints, Wardour: The tale of a Wiltshire parish

June 02, 2023

Thomas Arundell, the younger son of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, in 1541 acquired the (previously monastic) manors of Tisbury and Donhead. Ten years later he was executed as a supporter of the Protector Duke of Somerset, and his lands were forfeited. Wardour Castle was reacquired by the Arundells in 1571. The family seems to

Marriage is made for Heaven

June 02, 2023

A life dedicated to God should be cherished. That oft-heard phrase “love is love” is a funny thing to say. It doesn’t really mean anything. A guitar is a guitar. A book is a book. A pen is a pen. We don’t learn anything more about any of these things simply by naming them twice.

The nature of God is seen in the love that took Jesus to the Cross

June 02, 2023

We always say that God is not a puzzle to be solved, but the unfathomable reality within and beyond everything that is, ever has been or ever will be. Yet people do find the doctrine of the Trinity puzzling: somebody recently said to me that it seems as though the Church, at least in the

The delights of the Villa Palazzola of the Venerable English College

June 02, 2023

‘On a clear day you can see St Peter’s,” said Guiseppe Piacentini, director of the Villa Palazzola, as we stood looking out towards Rome. As it was a glorious April afternoon, we could just make out the dome of the basilica (started by Michelangelo, finished by Carlo Maderno in 1614) from the Venerable English College’s

The Coptic Martyrs

June 02, 2023

Pope Francis’s recognition of the 21 killed by Daesh as martyrs is a welcome theological and ecumenical development says Hugh Somerville Knapman OSB. Occasionally in one’s life an idea comes to mind that perhaps is a little sounder than the usual humdrummeries that crave cranial residence. Less frequently one finds the courage, and encouragement, not

Iraq’s Christians: A resilient and determined people

June 02, 2023

Iraq’s Christians cling to hope, despite decades of sanctions, violence and persecution, says Tom Westcott. After two decades of political instability and religious sectarianism, Iraq’s diminished Christian minority still faces challenges, with the two-year anniversary of the Pope’s visit marred by an arson attack and a new law banning alcohol sales. Iraq has one of

Exorcism, Psychology and Belief in God

June 02, 2023

Deciding between Jung and Christ on the problem of evil. Films about exorcism often catch the public’s fertile imagination. The recent film The Pope’s Exorcist has, as might be expected, caught people’s attention. The Herald reviewed the film last month, but the effect it has on those who watch it may be as important as

Bishop Neil Scantlebury of Barbados: A local man to tackle local challenges

June 02, 2023

“I just wanted to be a holy priest.” One never knows when God may interfere with retirement plans. After 25 years as a priest, attending Mount St Mary’s Seminary in Maryland in the United States and then serving in the Diocese of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, 55-year-old Fr Neil Scantlebury – a

Nightingale’s Nuns and the Crimean War, by Terry Tastard

June 02, 2023

Nightingale’s Nuns and the Crimean War Terry Tastard Bloomsbury, £85, 216 pages Those who learned their history from the Ladybird books (and subsequently had to learn something different) may remember the cover of the volume on Florence Nightingale. She stands calm, authoritative, sympathetic, a national heroine, holding a lantern: the epitome of compassion. “The lady

Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity, with Casey J Chalk

June 02, 2023

The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity Casey J Chalk Emmaus Road, $24.95, 320 pages In his concise new book, The Obscurity of Scripture, Casey J Chalk speaks from the experience of his own journey from the Reformed tradition to the Catholic Church to pick apart Protestant doctrines

The King is Dead, Long Live the King! Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain, by Martin Williams

June 02, 2023

The King is Dead, Long Live the King! Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain Martin Williams Hodder & Stoughton, £25, 304 pages It may well seem improper and almost indecent to be reviewing a volume with a title like this while nation and Commonwealth are still basking in the afterglow of the recent Coronation.