John Cornwell explores the highs and lows of papal biography

The report claimed that the cardinal failed to change the Church's culture

2,000 artefacts shed light on the devotion of a recusant household

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

This July was meant to have seen the return to Canterbury of a major relic: the blood-splattered tunicle (shirt) reputedly worn by Archbishop Thomas Becket at his murder. It would have been a fitting way to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Translation” of Becket’s bones from the crypt to a magnificent shrine in the

While the coronavirus has put our lives, as individuals and families, on hold, it is acting as an acc­elerant in global politics. Trends that would have taken decades to play out will now take months, as the virus courses through the veins of the world system searching out morbidities to latch onto and amplify. Like

Disasters like the current global pandemic invite us to ask two questions about the relation between our faith and our disaster. First, what, as a matter of historical fact, happens to faith when disaster hits? And second, what is the logical or theological relation between disasters and the tenets of our faith, especially the dogma

All suspected sufferers confined to their homes with guards outside; those seriously ill taken to special isolation units (pest-houses); schools, theatres, and fencing and dancing lessons (and for that matter bear-baiting) banned; movement outside the home severely limited and guards on the roads out of/into London; special taxes raised to help all those who were

Over the next few weeks, and very possibly months, we will have to get used to a new way of living. So how do we adjust to a Church without public Masses? How can we help the most vulnerable? And might there be opportunities to live better lives than we did before? This week, six

Over the next few weeks, and very possibly months, we will have to get used to a new way of living. So how do we adjust to a Church without public Masses? How can we help the most vulnerable? And might there be opportunities to live better lives than we did before? This week, six

Over the next few weeks, and very possibly months, we will have to get used to a new way of living. So how do we adjust to a Church without public Masses? How can we help the most vulnerable? And might there be opportunities to live better lives than we did before? This week, six

Over the next few weeks, and very possibly months, we will have to get used to a new way of living. So how do we adjust to a Church without public Masses? How can we help the most vulnerable? And might there be opportunities to live better lives than we did before? This week, six