Viewpoint

There are many different ways of living a good, ordinary Christian life: working as an inspiring, caring school teacher, a conscientious, accessible plumber who arrives on time, a good nurse, a dedicated local councillor, a compassionate judge, amongst many occupations. Yet, there was no more mundane a life than that of the 16th century Jesuit Spanish lay brother, St. Alphonse Rodriguez. His role ... Read More

Right-wing extremist ways of bringing religion and ethics into politics seem to be gaining ground. Reform's recent attempt to redefine empathy is a further example. They are all interlinked so this gambit is particularly dangerous. If they weren't connected, Catholic Social Teaching would be all good intentions and no action. Gad Saad invented the term 'suicidal empathy'. He spent a decade in Conc... Read More

Fire in the Bible indicates the presence of God, purifying humanity or as a symbol of divine judgement motivating change and conversion. In many States of the USA, wildfires now occur perennially growing in number. Trump' gleeful denial of, and contribution to, climate change has an impact not just on America's future but on the rest of the world, on what Pope Francis in Laudato Si calls memorably... Read More

Deacon Mark Paine writes: The Archbishop of Canterbury's address to the General Synod on affirming neurodiversity deserves a wide hearing beyond the Church of England. While addressed to the Anglican Communion, its challenge reaches every Christian Church, including our own. Her message was a simple but profound one. Neurodivergent people are not simply to be accommodated or included; they have gi... Read More

This is not a tautology or a platitude. Elderly people were key to ensuring that human communities thrived in prehistoric times. And there would have been a good number of them. Life was harsh, but if you survived childhood and childbirth, you had a good chance of living for decades after your own fertility declined. In evolutionary terms, the menopause is a bit of a mystery. Why would genes that ... Read More

Fr Rito Maresca, Coordinator of the International Network 'Priests Against Genocide' writes on "the Church of England's attempt to speak a true word about Palestine, and the Italian Church's struggle - not yet won - to do the same." Two photographs, the same room. A dark wood bookshelf on one side, a fireplace with two green armchairs on the other. In one photo they stand side by side: a rabbi wit... Read More

Under Conservative rule, combatting Islamophobia tended to be relegated to the realm of 'whataboutery' and to lack substance. Government's recent commitment to funding protective Mosque security, and the Muslim Trust for its work researching data on anti-Muslim hate crime and its victim support, is welcome. Threats and attacks on Mosques, imams, and 'microaggression' against Muslims in distinctive... Read More

Pope Leo has scheduled this Autumn what he describes as "a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today". He sees families as active subjects of evangelization as well as recipients of pastoral care. The meeting of Presidents of Bishops Conferences, and Eastern Catholic Churches, will therefore be "placing particular emphasis on listening to the f... Read More

A reflection on leadership, truth and the young people we are failing. Turn on the news. Open any newspaper. The evidence is everywhere. Our national political leadership is in trouble. Seven Prime Ministers in eleven years. A revolving door that has become a source of quiet embarrassment at home and open disbelief abroad. Our neighbours in Europe and our partners across the globe watch a country... Read More

Fr John Heagle, coordinator of Priests Against Genocide USA, writes: Silence is not always golden. Often, it is simply complicity with injustice. This is certainly the case for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a prisoner of conscience near death in an Israeli prison. Tragically, in the face of this war crime, most international government and religious leaders have chosen to remain silent. With this reflecti... Read More

In Belfast in the mid-1980s I watched a fully armed British soldier, shouldering a rifle, inspecting a coach for weapons. The coach was full of primary school children waiting to go to the Servite priory in Benburb for a weekend retreat away from home, a poor and rough part of the city. At Mass, there was a prayer in thanksgiving for 'new shoes' and, somewhat competitively, for deceased grannies, ... Read More

Deacon Mark Paine writes: In his sermon, a priest asked the congregation to think of the most profound spiritual experience that they had had in the past few months, a time when in prayer they had felt the presence of God. The implication was that all present must (or should) have experienced this. This priest went on to talk about the importance of having a deep, personal relationship with the p... Read More

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

The growth of secularism in the last century has resulted in the role of the Christian Churches in television coverage of history often being written out of the script. This is noticeable in otherwise well-made TV and radio documentaries, much less so thankfully in historical scholarship. The three episodes of James Rogan's Free Nelson Mandela, screened on Channel 4 in mid-June, provide a study of... Read More