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On 7 October 2026, in New York, Archbishop Christophe Z El Kassis, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, delivered a statement at the Third Committee of the 81st session of the General Assembly, under Agenda Item 70: 'Promotion and protection of human rights.' The Holy See reaffirmed its position that the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and di... Read More

The Church's first mission in the contemporary world "is to help people be attentive to the profound questions of life: those of our origin and destiny, as well as those concerning the meaning of love and suffering," Pope Leo XIV said in his catechesis during the weekly General Audience. Continuing his reflection on the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, the Pope contr... Read More

Britain seems constrained to join other European States in re-armament. Putin's fantasy of Ukraine's return to the Russian Federation and a restoration of the former Soviet territory, Xi Jinping's determination to absorb Taiwan by all means available, seem utterly intractable, a grave injustice if accomplished. Military deterrence is an understandable response. At one level, this 'confrontational ... Read More

The Volunteer Missionary Movement (VMM) trained, placed and supported well over 2500 volunteer lay missionaries to work in Africa, Central and South America and Southeast Asia in a variety of roles in education, health and social services, diocesan and community development, including a number of people from the Diocese of Hallam. A recently published short history of VMM written by Martin Desforg... Read More

Pax Christi on Merseyside and Health Workers for Palestine organised a vigil for the Palestinian paediatrician Dr Abu Safiya outside BBC Radio Merseyside in Liverpool on 24 September. Dr Safiya has now been held in an Israeli detention facility since the end of 2024 without charge. His son Elias has reported on the deteriorating health of his father who has been subject to routine beatings, sleep ... Read More

Pope Leo XIV has recorded a special video message for the celebration of World Mission Sunday on Sunday 18 October. Missio, the Holy Father's charity for world mission and tasked with coordinating World Mission Sunday, is appealing for prayers and donations to support missionaries who serve communities in need, often in some of the poorest and most challenging places on earth. This year's theme, c... Read More

The Catholic Parliamentary Office welcomes the decision of the Scottish National Party to remove from its conference agenda a proposed motion that would have sought to decriminalise self-administered abortion and significantly weaken legal protections for unborn children. Last month, in response to reports of the motion, the Catholic Parliamentary Office expressed its concern that SNP members coul... Read More

Gospel of 7 October 2026 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

Forty years ago, on October 27, 1986, Pope St John Paul II took part in the historic World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, central Italy. For the first time in history, representatives of all world religions were invited by the Pope to pray together for peace. Among those inspired by that meeting was the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay organisation, which since then has continued to pr... Read More

Catholic actor Kenneth Michael, will be directing a new play in the Lambeth Fringe Festival this weekend. 'Painting with Water' by Richard Banks, follows the story of Harold Graves, a dying retired literature professor, and his unexpected friendship with a young woman named Willow. Performances are at the Bread and Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4 6DZ Clapham, on Saturday 10 Oct... Read More

Rabbi GIlad Kariv, a legal scholar, member of the Knesset and former CEO of Reform Judaism in Israel wrote on Facebook yesterday: Tonight, I met with Father Constantine, one of the leaders of the Greek Orthodox community in Jaffa. With tears in his eyes and a voice choked with emotion, he described to me the violence he experienced at the hands of police officers on Jaffa's main street, and th... Read More

A few years ago I was helping on a residential weekend for teenagers at Worth Abbey when an old friend arrived to give the Saturday evening talk. He looked around the room and asked me how it was all going. The only answer I could find was, "It works. It just works." He laughed, because he knew exactly what I meant. We had both been in youth ministry a long time, and we had both spent most of it w... Read More

The Iona Institute reports: A new movie about Tuam Children's Home is just out. One of the producers is Liam Neeson and is called 'The Lost Children of Tuam'. It deals with Catherine Corless's quest to find out what happened to the children who spent time in the home, and in particular, how many died, why, and where they are buried. The movie places nearly all the blame on the Bon Secours Sisters ... Read More

Daoud Nassar, from the long-established Christian Palestinian farming family at the Tent of Nations, near Bethlehem, urged the Church to stand up for Palestinians when he spoke at St John's Anglican Church, in Waterloo, London, last Thursday. He said this was 'very important' in the Palestinians' imperilled situation in which it was easy to feel lonely and forgotten. The presence and solidarity of... Read More