Family is where you find it, as they say. It is a broad statement in the face of which the Church’s social teachings have to hold their own against a panoply of options that vie both for attention and recognition in a confusing world. Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital, right in the heart of London, stands apart from the maelstrom, being founded long before anyone thought of the present kaleidoscope and for the sole purpose of “the education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children”. Orphans, then, in the old-fashioned sense. 

How do we help children and adults who have been abused? The first thing is to talk about it, recognising that it is endemic in our world. The second is to be clear that it isn’t the victim’s fault – that any shame they may feel is misplaced. Abuse is always an abuse of power

For some, it will be a cause for celebration, for others, a portent of worse to come. The UK’s Office of National Statistics – Britain’s equivalent to the US Census Bureau – revealed this week that, for the first time since records began, a majority of babies were born out of wedlock in England and

My mother has dementia. I’ve been a mother myself for a good quarter century, so I’m used to trying to help people who can’t express what they want. Or who don’t want what they should. Or who don’t understand what they truly want. But this is different. In those cases I’d be trying to show respect and

Texas high schooler Paxton Smith gave a surprise valedictorian’s address at her high school’s graduation reacting to the state’s attempt to restrict abortion. She said she needed access to abortion to accomplish her goals. Without it, she was “terrified.” Jacqueline Abernathy, once an ambitious high school star herself, explains why she’s so wrong.   “I

The Pope ended his day-long visit to Milan by speaking at an annual encounter for young people preparing for confirmation

39 girls were killed and others injured in a blaze that began in a youth shelter after mattresses were set alight

Rival demonstrations have taken place at Planned Parenthood centres across America