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Pope Leo has welcomed today's news of a ceasefire in the Middle East and asks that all parties engage in prolonged dialogue to reach an end to the conflict. He also invites men and women of goodwill across the world to join him in prayer for peace on Saturday 11 April. At the conclusion of his General Audience on Wednesday, 8 April, Pope Leo turned his thoughts to the weeks of tension that have be... Read More

The South African Council of Churches has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, calling for stronger recognition of states' obligations under the African Charter in addressing the climate crisis and the financing of fossil fuels. The submission, filed on 30 March, responds to a request for an advisory opinion initiated by the Pan African Lawyers Union.... Read More

At the beginning of Holy Week, Bishop John Michael Botean of the Romanian Catholic Diocese of St George in Canton, Ohio, released a pastoral letter denouncing the Iran war. In the letter Bishop Botean says: "I must declare for your sake that this war is unjust, killing in it is murder, and any willing participation in it is complicity in murder." "the United States launched an attack on the people... Read More

Jeremy Fowler lived for eleven years in Iraqi Kurdistan and is now based in Oxford, working on a biography of Roger Cumberland, an American Presbyterian missionary in the region who was killed in Duhok in 1938. The Kurdish people live in the largely autonomous Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq and within the borders of Turkey, Iran and Syria. The region of 'Greater Kurdistan' is actually the setti... Read More

Gospel of 8 April 2026 Luke 24:13-35 On the first day of the week, two of the disciples of Jesus were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said... Read More

Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in a brief statement on Tuesday evening to a group of journalists waiting for him outside Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. Against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the US President's threat to destroy "the whole Iranian civilisation" on tonight if Tehran does not comply with a deadline set by the White House to re... Read More

The President of the US Bishops' Conference (USCCB) has appealed to President Trump to avoid going through with his threat to "destroy the whole Iranian civilization" if Tehran does not agree to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. "I call on President Trump to step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost," said Archbishop Paul ... Read More

Peace campaigners plan to hold an emergency vigil in London on Wednesday evening, after President Trump made further aggressive threats toward Iran on Tuesday. President Trump warned yesterday: "a whole civilisation will die tonight" if his ultimatum expires, signalling a massive military attack on Iran's infrastructure and population, with threats of large-scale destruction and wiping out much o... Read More

Baroness Patricia Scotland, former Secretary-General to the Commonwealth of Nations, is to give a keynote address at a landmark conference in London addressing increasing challenges to religious freedom around the world. A panel discussion 'Dare to Believe - Is Religious Freedom under growing threat around the world', a hybrid event, is taking place at 3pm on Sunday, 19 April, at Farm Street Cath... Read More

The results of a Primary School Survey in Ireland reflect strong confidence in Catholic education and show that that parents are central to this process, welcoming the consultation as a key step in ensuring their voices shape the future of education. Just 16% of all eligible households expressed a preference for change, underlining the strong level of confidence among parents in Catholic school... Read More

Archbishop Mark opened his Easter message by drawing on Ted Hughes' poem The Horses - set in that deep, cold hour before dawn, when darkness is at its deepest and the frost at its most intense. He acknowledged the weight many people are carrying right now: war in the Middle East and Ukraine, famine in Sudan, rising fuel costs, pressure on families. "It may feel very dark," he said. But then came t... Read More

An exhibition of works by Helen Elwes and Martin Jarvis, in response to the climate and nature crisis, is taking place at the London Jesuit Centre, 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AH from April 2 - April 28th 2026. On Tuesday 21st April at 7pm there will be a talk with slides preceded by 6pm Mass for Creation in church next door (Farm Street) The exhibition is open weekdays from 8am to 8pm; Saturday... Read More

Gospel of 7 April 2026 John 20:11-18 At that time: Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' Having... Read More

At the Regina Caeli on Easter Monday in Saint Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV called on Christians to bear witness to the Gospel in a world disfigured by fake news, conflict and "confused consciences". Reflecting on the Gospel account of the empty tomb, the Pope noted that two different accounts emerge from the same event: the testimony of the women, who encountered the risen Jesus and announced His ... Read More