Posts By Date - Catholic Herald

October 01, 2023

How Blaise Pascal’s legacy endures – and gains the respect of Pope Francis

October 01, 2023

Benjamin Ivry on the French Catholic polymath Blaise Pascal, born 400 years ago, whose sharp mind inspired a kinship with Pope Francis. Anticipating the 400th anniversary this year of the birth of French mathematician and physicist, literary talent and Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal, some observers inquired if Pope Francis might beatify him. After all, in a

The problems with the Synod

October 01, 2023

The Synod on Synodality, which starts at the beginning of this month, is something unique in the history of the Church. It is a synod about a process; in fact you could say, it is listening about listening. In a sense, Pope Francis, whose idea this very much is, has achieved his end simply by

Synodal secrecy: is Pope Francis relying on murmuring, rather than megaphones?

October 01, 2023

ROME – In the annals of church affairs, some synods are sufficiently famous – or, as the case may be, infamous – as to merit their own informal title. In the late 9th century, for instance, Pope Stephen VI decided to dig up his dead predecessor, Formosus, and put him on trial, which ended with the

Clash of the Prefects: An Olympian struggle between two opposed theological visions

October 01, 2023

Clash of the Titans is a nearly 50-year-old fantasy action film based on ancient Greek mythology. Since 2013, quite a few Catholics have reported the sensation of being trapped in a remake of the 1970s. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is a giant of a man

The Sino-Vatican Pact isn’t working: so why does Cardinal Chow insist that it is?

October 01, 2023

This weekend should have been one of celebration for Hong Kong Catholics – the elevation of their new bishop to the rank of cardinal. The fact that the city now has three living cardinals – Cardinal Joseph Zen, Cardinal John Tong and now Cardinal Stephen Chow – is remarkable, and a sign of how much

Judgement is Coming

October 01, 2023

The parables in St Matthew’s Gospel are eschatological in their message. As the liturgical year draws to a close, our attention is always turned towards the judgement that is coming. This is especially the case in the present year in which we are reading St Matthew, and it is a notable feature of the first

Pizzaballa: stability and peace in the Holy Land unlikely in the near future

October 01, 2023

ROME – As Israel faces ongoing political and social instability, its new cardinal has said that since achieving stable peace in the near future is unlikely, constructive efforts in facilitating dialogue are needed. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said that his elevation was a surprise, and that he sees the red hat