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Bar Convent takes part in York Mystery Plays Festival fo first time

This year, for the first time, The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre is excited to be taking part in the theatrical spectacle that is York Mystery Plays Festival. Every four years, the streets of York are transformed into an immersive historic stage as part of a local tradition dating back to Medieval times. The Bar Convent are thrilled to be included in the programme of special events taking ove... Read More


Morpeth school awarded for sustainability

Picture by Kate Buckingham

From litter picks and bug hotels to charity work and a Climate Justice Campaign, caring pupils at a school in Morpeth, Northumberland, showed they were worthy recipients of a prestigious award from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). St Robert's Catholic First School received the CAFOD Live Simply Award in recognition of its pioneering work in living 'sustainably with creation' a... Read More


DR Congo: 'How long will violence last?' - missionaries sound alarm over terror attacks

Comboni missionaries in north DR Congo © ACN

Missionaries in DR Congo warn that a fresh humanitarian crisis is unfolding - as militant attacks have left dozens of villages abandoned. Hundreds have fled villages leaving everything behind as terrorists ravage the countryside in the north-eastern Upper Uele Province. Several missionaries contacted Aid to the Church in Need highlighting the desperation as villagers converge on cities which are ... Read More


Patriarch Theophilos III and Cardinal Pizzaballa begin pastoral visit to Gaza

Patriarch Theophilos III and Cardinal Pizzaballa. Photo: HPC of Church Affairs in Palestine

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Jordan, and His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in Gaza yesterday, 22 June for a pastoral visit. They are accompanied by His Excellency Dr Josef D Blotz, grand hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, together with representatives of Malteser In... Read More

Eightieth anniversary of the Crusade for Reconciliation

The German Vézelay Cross

Eighty years ago, under the hot summer sun of 1946, a great peace pilgrimage converged on Vézelay in France, as war-weary people turned to the Cross in their longing for pardon, reconciliation, and peace for their children and the world. 'Cross of Christ, give us peace' became the constant refrain of the British pilgrims who walked across France that summer. Their destination, the Abbey of Véze... Read More


Diocese unveils restored cathedral for growing congregation

The Diocese of Salford is reopening the doors to its cathedral following a three-year closure to restore the mother church to its former glory. The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, located in the heart of Salford, is set to reveal the fruits of its multimillion pound transformation, making this historic place of worship a thriving hub of faith and community in modern tim... Read More


Gospel in Art: Enter by the narrow gate

Narrow road of virtue and wide road of sin,  by Jan Christiaensz Micker, 1650,  oil on oak panel  © National Museum, Warsaw

Gospel of 23 June 2026 Matthew 7:6, 12-14 At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, 'Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 'So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 'Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads... Read More


Church leaders gather in Rome to prepare for Synod Assemblies of 2027-2028

Image: Vatican Media

The heads of the Church's continental bodies have gathered in Rome this week for three days of meetings dedicated to the next phase of the Synod on Synodality, according to a press release issued by the General Secretariat of the Synod on Monday. The meeting, taking place on June 23-25, brings together representatives of continental ecclesial organizations from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe,... Read More


Pope visits World Food Programme, decries waste of resources on war

Image: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV visits the UN World Food Programme headquarters in Rome on Monday, and insisted that food, water, and healthcare cannot be subordinated to geopolitical interests, calling for nations to work together with renewed multilateralism. "Together, we share the urgent task of confronting hunger and malnutrition, while also tackling the underlying structural causes that sustain them. To meet t... Read More


Bishops voice support for Time to Act

Bishop Jim Curry, Lead Bishop for the Holy Land, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and Bishop Stephen Wright, Chair of Trustees, CAFOD, have voiced their support for the Just Peace Coalition's Time to Act campaign which launched on Monday 22 June 2026. The Time to Act campaign has been organised by the Just Peace Coalition of churches and charities, including: All We Can; Amos Tru... Read More


Sudan: Priest who refused to evacuate volatile region murdered by militants

Father Youhana Alamin © ACN

A priest who remained with his parish in Sudan - despite growing violence - was killed after the theft of vital medicines intended for local people. Father Youhana Alamin, parish priest of St Vincent's Parish in Kauda, was fatally shot on Friday, 19 June, in the Nuba Mountains, along with one watchman who was also killed and another who survived. Sources from El Obeid Diocese told Aid to the Churc... Read More


Viewpoint: Nonviolence - a way of being, a test of faith

Photo by David Bumgardner on Unsplash

In Brian Friel's play 'The Enemy Within' the dramatized character Columba (the Irish Abbot of the Monastery at Iona) is pressured by his brother and nephew to return to Ireland to lead upto fifty armed-clansmen 'straining for bloodshed' in order to rescue his Christian grand-nephew and niece-in-law held captive by 'heathen Picts' in Antrim. The raid would also confirm the clan's power and dominanc... Read More


UK: Priest braves heatwave on 108-mile walk to shine a light on persecuted Christians

Father Arockiya Seelan © Father Arockiya Seelan

As the UK swelters amid soaring temperatures, a parish priest has begun a gruelling 108-mile walk through a heatwave he "never planned for" - to mark a historic anniversary and raise urgent funds for persecuted families. Father Arockiya Seelan, parish priest of the Sacred Heart and St Oswald in Peterborough, is undertaking a six-day pilgrimage to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of East Angl... Read More


Gospel in Art: Feast of Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs

Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, stained glass window by Andrew Taylor, installed 1993, St Simon and St Jude Catholic Church, Streatham, London, SW2

Gospel of 22 June 2026 Matthew 24:4-13 At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, 'See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ", and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, ... Read More

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