The culture of patronage in the arts has been fundamental to the Church

Long before its collapse became evident, three writers foretold the decline of the Irish Church – and worried about what would come next

St Mary of the Angels in Gloucestershire is a monument to the care and devotion of two remarkable women, says Rachel Morley

St Augustine and Aquinas led Jennifer Frey to the Faith. Now she wants Catholic and contemporary philosophers to ‘talk more to each other’

It was a joy to see a live audience after so long

I’m struck by the way this word has caught on in new guises. It’s a very old word: Chaucer used it, as did Shakespeare; and it became routinely used for any formal break from an activity, such as between university terms. It developed the general meaning of “holiday” in American English during the 19th century,

In 1681, when Charles II’s mistress Nell Gwyn travelled to see the king in Oxford, an angry crowd jostled her coach. In response, Nell pointed out to the crowd that, despite her scandalous relationship with the monarch, she was at least a Protestant. Renowned as a comic actress of considerable skill, Nell’s remark exposed two

Pope Francis has spoken about finding God “in the messiness of life”. It’s a phrase that resonates with Gerry Flanagan. In the early 1980s, Flanagan was a young man looking for ways to live out his faith. But he was turned off by many movements within the Church: they came across, he recalls, as “talking

In Sweden, like other Scandinavian countries, Catholics are a very small minority. At the same time, this is one of the few areas of Europe where the number of Catholics is increasing, largely thanks to immigration. Most Catholics in Sweden have an immigrant background. In an average parish, it is not unusual to find parishioners

Christianity in Sweden has been both nourished and bedevilled by legend. The life of the country’s patron saint, King Eric the Holy (d 1160), is recounted in a single hagiographic text. The old Norse myths have also shaped the history of the faith. Although Christianity arrived in Sweden in the ninth century, pagans were still

Acclaimed author Corinna Turner looks at the life and powerful legacy of witness of Carlo Acutis, whose beatification is Saturday, 10 October 2020.

John Finnis looks back on a public storm - and on his lifetime studying philosophy, law and Catholic teaching