Books

The last stage of the three-year Synod journey was the Final Synod Document . (officially 'For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission'), a beautiful but rather technical document that Pope Francis took into church teaching and we are to implement. Join the School for Synodality online each week as Dr Avril Baigent and a global cast of synod experts as they will be 'Reading the... Read More

Elizabeth Glendinning Kirkwood (1895-1968), a significant writer, especially of Christian history, a missionary, and a mould-breaker, was born in the west of Scotland and her secondary school education was at Wellington School, Ayr. When Elizabeth was a pupil there, the school was owned and led by two women who were committed to encouraging young women to fulfil their full potential. Their influen... Read More

While Cambodia is now best-known for Angkor Wat and tourism, its enchantment hides a recent history and a poignancy beyond imagining. Next week sees the 50th anniversary of the fall of its capital Phnom Penh on 17th April 1975, setting the stage for one of the most barbaric regimes in modern history. By mid-afternoon on that fateful day the whole population of this elegant city was being forced in... Read More

Christian fundraiser and author, Primavera Moretti has founded a new independent publishing company to help raise funds for charity. Each charity partner will be linked to a specific title and will receive £1 per copy sold. Lumina Publications is a whole new concept in publishing. Although it's just starting out, Lumina Publications has a vision: to bring light to the world by creating educating ... Read More

RED SCARE by Clay Risen. Publisher: Simon & Schuster In 1938, the US Congress interrogated theatre directors who produced plays for President Roosevelt's Federal Theater Project. The project was a New Deal initiative supporting the arts, providing employment and lifting spirits during the Depression and its aftermath. A congressman asked a director about his decision to perform Dr Faustus. "Yo... Read More

Righting Wrongs - Three decades on the front lines battling abusive governments, by Kenneth Roth, Penguin Random House. "People, of course, want human rights, at least for themselves." So begins Kenneth Roth's informative survey of his thirty years at Human Rights Watch (HRW). He saw his NGO's role as increasing "the price of oppression to shift a regime's cost-benefit calculation so that abuse n... Read More

Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love by Lonni Collins Pratt with Fr Daniel Homan OSB. Publisher: Paraclete Press During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2020, Pope Francis told the faithful who were gathered in the Paul VI Hall in Rome and watching or listening via various media outlets that "spontaneous hospitality and thoughtful gestures communicate something of God's love". Alo... Read More

Why Didn't I Know? Britain's Legacy in Palestine Paperback. by Monica Spooner. Publisher: Troubador ISBN: 9781836280750 In 2008 two ordinary people were invited to Jordan - and decided to visit Israel/Palestine as well. Their trip had anything but ordinary consequences. Knowing very little about the history and politics of Israel and Palestine, Monica and Roger found themselves face to face with ... Read More

Archbishop John Wilson gave a keynote talk on St Oscar Romero and the Rosary at the launch of his latest book: The Romeo Rosary' in the Amigo Hall, Southwark, on Thursday. In his reflection the Archbishop spoke about how praying the rosary can be life changing - even for those who do not know where to start. In the book, the Archbishop has penned new 'Romero Mysteries', which he said can help us u... Read More

Br Guy Consolmagno, the director of the Vatican Observatory, has published a new book entitled A Jesuit's Guide to the Stars. The book charts the long history of Jesuit engagement with astronomy. As Consolmagno notes in his introduction, this is a story which has its origin in the very earliest days of the Society of Jesus. The founder of the Jesuit order, St Ignatius of Loyola, says in his autob... Read More

This book explores the experience and understanding of Roman Catholic sisters of their vocation to the apostolic form of religious life as they age. Based on interviews with twelve religious women from five English foundations, it draws on the practice of Lectio Divina to explore how these women describe their call to service and activity, at a time in life when these might be curtailed by physica... Read More

Archbishop John Wilson has written a new book entitled 'The Romero Rosary'. With introductory chapters about St Oscar Romero and the Rosary, this beautiful and creative new book contains reflections on the traditional mysteries of the Rosary (Joy, Light, Sorrow & Glory) and the New Romero Mysteries (Charity, Compassion, Mercy, Justice and Peace) - all illumined for reflection and prayer by th... Read More

Clandestine priests smuggled into England hunted by spies from the royal court and martyred are prominent within English Catholic memory of the 16th and early 17th century. Priest-holes, the pejorative term 'Jesuitical', and the exclusion of Catholics from succession to the throne, remain a minor remnant of that time. In the 20th century, Nazi Rule, Communism, and the military dictatorships of Lat... Read More

Pope Francis' widely-anticipated autobiography 'Hope' has been released today, in more than 80 countries, in several languages, in print and audiobook format. This first memoir published by a sitting pontiff, written by the Pope in collaboration with Italian writer Carlo Musso, took six years to complete. Originally it was intended to be published after the Pope's passing, but the announcement of... Read More