Whenever there is a matter of dispute in the modern-day Church, there is a tendency to ask what would be the opinion of those members of the Early Church? Those of you already familiar with the writing and teaching of Tom O’Loughlin, Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham, will welcome his Read more
There is an old joke about the civil servant who was put in charge of implementing the government’s new policy on “freedom of information”. When asked by a journalist how the new freedom of information policy was playing out, he replied: “I’m afraid I cannot comment: that matter is classified!” It may be an apocryphal Read more
The Holy See announced last Wednesday that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff, Wales, appointing Bishop Mark O’Toole of the Diocese of Plymouth, England, to succeed him. At the same time, O’Toole has also been named the Bishop of Menevia, the neighbouring Welsh diocese, which has had no bishop Read more
Hopefully, you didn’t forget that there is (still) a war going on in Ukraine. It isn’t just any war, of course, but a war of conquest perpetrated by Russia invading a sovereign nation. And it is a war that has seen massive numbers of unspeakable war crimes. These war crimes have included, among other things, Read more
Wednesday brought devastating news for the Church and Catholic journalism, when Catholic News Service (CNS) announced that they will be shutting down their Washington, DC and New York bureaus at the end of the year, and that all of its US-based staff would be losing their jobs. They also announced that their Rome bureau would Read more
The call for vocations to the priesthood on Vocations Sunday is one we have heard for many years as the worsening picture of recruitment reveals itself. The numbers show the extent of the crisis we are facing. When I entered the seminary 40 years ago, I was one of 19 aspirants. Two of us were Read more
For many Catholic adults who oppose abortion today, the pro-life movement was our real introduction to moral philosophy. Maybe we attended prayer vigils with our families in grade school or high school, or maybe we just read news magazines and argued with kids on the school bus. Either way, the questions surrounding abortion opened our Read more
I have been on this planet now for almost 80 years. I grew up in a 50/50 Catholic family but lost the Catholic half when I was 10. This was largely compensated for by spending seven years at boarding school, both nuns and priests being my mentors. This is something for which I will be Read more
On the path of these catecheses on old age, today we meet a biblical figure—and old man—named Eleazar, who lived at the time of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes. He is a wonderful character. His character gives us a testimony of the special relationship that exists between the fidelity of old age and the honour Read more
What is the difference between Faith and Belief? It was an interesting question, and if it had been asked in a room full of people, we could have had many answers. My response is that both are important, but Belief belongs to the head and Faith belongs to the heart. The journey from head to Read more