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Palestinian performers boost Amos appeal for Gaza

Amos Trust hosted a deeply moving final staging of Alrowwad Theatre Company's latest production Anfaas (Breaths) at a packed Union Chapel, Islington, on Sunday night. The young performers from Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem played the violin, acted, danced and mimed, responding to projected scenes from the genocide in Gaza with profoundly moving ritual power and defiant joy - their signature 'be... Read More


India: Christians demand government action over rising descrimination

Image: Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Around 2,000 Christians representing more than 200 denominations gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India on 29 November to draw attention to increasing hostility faced by Christians and to advocate for long-delayed legal and constitutional reforms. The day-long National Christian Convention, organised by a coalition including the All Indian Catholic Union and the United Christian Forum (UC... Read More


Pope Leo: Believe as Mary believed, say 'yes' to God

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, today, Pope Leo XIV prayed the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square and invited us to believe as Mary did to welcome Christ into their lives. "The 'yes' of the Mother of the Lord is wonderful, but so also can ours be, renewed each day faithfully, with gratitude, humility and perseverance, in prayer and in concrete acts of love, from the most ext... Read More


Gaudium et Spes at 60: social justice and Catholic education

Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ

This conference at St Mary's University, from 3 -5 December, was organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the last document from the Second Vatican Council, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, known as Gaudium et Spes, on 7 December 1965. The opening keynote address was given by Sister Gemma Simmonds CJ from the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge... Read More

Gospel in Art: Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Madonna and Child by Franz Ittenbach, 1855  © Minneapolis Institute of Art

Gospel of 8 December 2025 Luke 1:26-38 At that time: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this... Read More


Pope: Holy See will not be silent bystander amid global inequality and war

Pope receives ambassadors' Letters of Credence. Image Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday received the Letters of Credence of thirteen new Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, representing Uzbekistan, Moldova, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Liberia, Thailand, Lesotho, South Africa, Fiji, Micronesia, Latvia, and Finland. Welcoming them during the Jubilee Year of Hope, he reminded them of its theme and highlighted its call to recover "the confident trust that w... Read More


Cardinal Radcliffe takes possession of his titular church

The Dominican Friars in Britain write: On the first Sunday of Advent, our brother Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe took possession of his titular church in Rome, the Chiesa dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria, located on Via del Corso in the centre of the city. The beautiful Baroque church was built in the 17th century, originally for discalced Augustinians. Cardinals are traditionally assigned a titular ch... Read More


Polish Carols at Westminster Cathedral

Screenshot image British Poles

Westminster Cathedral was packed on Saturday evening for a concert of Polish Christmas Carols, sung by three combined choirs, conducted by Jurek Pockert: the Ave Verum Choir, Schola Cantorum London Polish Choir and Choir of John Paul II. The organ setting was provided by Cathedral organist Alexander Robson. The 'Fiołki' choir of the Polish Mazury Organisation, conducted by Jadzia Słomka, with th... Read More


Southwark: Guided Tours in St George's Cathedral

St Georges Cathedral, Southwark, on Second Sunday of Advent

St Georges's Cathedral looked stunning in the late afternoon of 6th December for the inaugural guided tour of the building. Lambeth Tour Guides Association (LTGA) have collaborated with the Cathedral to train seven guides, who will be showing future visitors around this little-known architectural delight of South London. Its elegant high nave was enhanced by Christmas trees on the high altar. Thos... Read More


Text: Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe at World AIDS Day Mass + Video

Timothy Radcliffe with CAPS team members at the reception  at the London Jesuit Centre after Mass

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP gave the following homily at the World AIDS Mass at Farm Street Church on Saturday, 6 December 2025. In the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the crew of a spacecraft orbiting the earth see our little planetary home with new eyes. One of them said: 'You'll see no countries, just a rolling indivisible globe which knows no possibility of separation, let alone war. And ... Read More


In the Shadows of the Holy Land: Ancient Roots, Modern Fears: Christians in Palestine

Common Home TV has just released Episode 3 of In the Shadows of the Holy Land, titled Ancient Roots, Modern Fears: Christians in Palestine. This episode features an extensive and deeply personal conversation with Sami El-Yousef, CEO of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and a lifelong Christian resident of the Old City. Sami offers a rare, detailed look at the Christian presence across Palestine ... Read More


Gospel in Art: Second Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist, by Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889). Painted in 1849. Oil on canvas © Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France

Gospel of 7 December 2025 Matthew 3:1-12 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." ' Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt round ... Read More


Mass marks global impact of HIV and AIDS

Image ICN/JS

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe preached at Farm Street Jesuit church in London on Saturday afternoon, 6th December, at a well-attended Mass to mark the global impact of HIV and AIDS. Cardinal Radcliffe is Patron of CAPS (Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support). He called on everyone to recognise that we are all intimately linked with each other and the whole of creation. The Mass for World AIDS Day... Read More


Bethlehem: Christmas lights return after three years of darkness

Screenshot

Thousands of Palestinian Christians and Muslims gathered in Bethlehem's Manger Square, in front of the Church of the Nativity on Saturday night, for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony - the first one in three years. There were hymns and prayers for peace in the two hour ceremony. Bethlehem, and the entire West Bank has suffered a severe economic crisis in recent years - the lack of tourists and ... Read More

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