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The wonderful film: Cinema Paradiso is showing this Thursday, 30 July, at the Tim Hetherington Film Club at Farm Street in the Arrupe Hall at 6.30 for 7pm. Cost: no charge, free refreshments but donations are welcome Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 coming-of-age comedy drama that has been credited as revitalizing the Italian film industry. Set in a small Sicil... Read More

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland, gave this homily yesterday, at Mass for the 2026 Grandparents' pilgrimage to the Shrine of Knock: 'I will never forget you'. Many grandparents nowadays say they get a whole new lease of life from being around young people. I was surprised recently when a 70 year-old grandad was able to explain to me all about TikTok and Snapchat, and I got a real s... Read More

Fr Michel Abboud, OCD, President of Caritas Lebanon gave the following reflection at WeBelieve Festival of Catholic Life: entitled Blessed are the Peacemakers - From the Wounded Heart to the Healing of the World. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Matthew 5:9 First of all, I would like to thank you for this invitation. I especially thank CAFOD for inviting me f... Read More

Gospel of 27 July 2026 Matthew 13:31-35 At that time: Jesus put another parable before the crowd, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.' He told them anot... Read More

Pope Leo XIV reflected on the mystery of the Kingdom of God as a treasure that transforms human life during his Angelus address on Sunday, 26 July, delivered from Castel Gandolfo, where he is taking a summer break. Commenting on the Gospel parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value (Mt 13:44-52), the Pope said that the Kingdom of God brings a joy so profound that leaving everythi... Read More

On Saturday, 25 July 2026, the Liturgical Institute of Ealing Abbey welcomed scholars, clergy, students, and friends of the Syriac tradition for the Third Annual St Ephrem Lecture in Syriac Studies. The afternoon opened with a welcome from Abbot Dominic Taylor, who reflected on the importance of Eastern Christianity for understanding the origins of the Christian faith. He reminded those present th... Read More

We have just had a memorable weekend of Catholic summer conferences and festivals in England. (Perhaps next year the organisers could discuss dates in advance to avoid such big diary clashes!) People are still coming home from: 'One heart, one voice' - the National Network of Pastoral Musicians Conference in Highgate House, Northampton and the National Justice and Peace Network Conference at Swanw... Read More

Fr Ibrahim Faltas, Head of Schools of the Custody of the Holy Land, has issued an urgent message deploring the situation in the West Bank and issing a warning both to those who fuel the violence and to those "who fail to intervene to stop this endless spiral." Fr Faltas writes: 'Once again, violence is intensifying in the Holy Land - a violence that has never left this land. 'It escalates into fur... Read More

The Requiem Mass for Benet Walter Bano "Ben" - took place at St Thomas of Canterbury's Catholic Church in Deal, Kent on Monday 20 July 2026 - attended by family, friends, local councillors and MPs. The celebrant was Fr Brian Coyle. A reception was held in Deal Town Hall after the funeral. Ben's daughter Sophie Skardon gave the following Eulogy. Dad was born on the 3rd February 1950 to Emmerich and... Read More

St Francis Leprosy Guild is the UK's only Catholic leprosy charity. We have cared for people with leprosy for over 130 years. We operate in eleven countries in Africa, Asia and Brazil where leprosy is endemic. By supporting over 30 leprosy centres and projects, we play our part in caring for those affected by the disease and working towards a leprosy-free world. We believe that a leprosy-free worl... Read More

Gospel of 26 July 2026 Matthew 13:44-52 At that time: Jesus said to the crowd: 'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought... 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

Today, Saturday 25 July, Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis, as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 24, 1968. He was ordained priest on May 21, 1994 and incardinated in the Archeparchy of Beirut of the Maronites. A graduate Doctor of Civil Law and Doctor of C... Read More

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 109 I find it difficult to visualise the Kingdom of Heaven, but I believe that is a very good thing. Jesus gives us many different images of what it is like in terms of comparison and we hear some of these in our gospel today, but there is no one, solid, definable image except of the completion of all things in a glory we can only glimpse. I thank th... Read More