UK & Ireland

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is organising the biggest event for the Church in Scotland this year, with international speakers, including a Bishop from the Holy Land, a bishop from Nigeria and the head of Divine Renovation UK. ACN have this week launched tickets for the Courage to be Catholic Conference which will be held at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on Saturday, 29 March. Bishop W... Read More

The Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education (ATCRE) are holding their annual National Conference on Saturday 1st March at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School & 6th Form, Kings Norton, Birmingham B38 8AP. This will be the sixth National Conference held by ATCRE. The theme for this year's conference is 'Scripture at the heart'. Keynote speakers are Prof Bob Bowie and Brenden Thomps... Read More

The 2025 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be marked by Archbishop Eamon Martin, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and Archbishop John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, on the theme 'Do you believe this'. A brief video has been recorded in which the Archbishops reflect on this year's theme, Do you believe this? They discuss the vital role faith plays in sustaining hope amidst pe... Read More

The Charles Plater Trust (CPT) has launched its 2025 large grants programme with £385,000 available in large grants to plant seeds of hope in England and Wales this year. Inspired by Pope Francis' dedication of 2025 as a Jubilee Year, with its theme of "Pilgrims of Hope," the CPT is reaching out to charities of all kinds who want to make Catholic Social Teaching values come alive in their practic... Read More

Speaking at the Parliamentary launch of a new Bishops' Conference Social Justice Department document, Bishop Moth emphasized that an effective criminal justice system must honour the innate dignity of every human being, and further the common good. At the launch for Remember Me: A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice, attended by Parliamentarians, heads of charities, and experts from a range of a... Read More

The Archbishop of Southwark, John Wilson, has issued a pastoral letter to the people of Southwark outlining the next steps of the Archdiocese's renewal process. In 2023, the Archbishop began a process - Called to Bear Fruit - which seeks to ensure parish communities in the Archdiocese are equipped with what they need to grow, evangelise, form disciples, and inspire witness. The Archbishop said the... Read More

The Palliative and End of Life Care Commission have launched a call for written submissions ahead of their first oral evidence session, on Wednesday 22nd January in Parliament. The request for written submissions was made by the chair Professor Sir Mike Richards, who alongside Rachael Maskell MP and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff are spearheading the review into palliative and end of life care in the... Read More

Sister Bernadette Hunston has been awarded the Westminster Diocesan Medal, with a certificate signed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols recognising 'over sixty years of active and dedicated contribution to the Diocese.' Bishop John Sherrington presided at a Mass in Ealing Abbey today, at the end of which he presented the medal to Sister Bernadette. The ceremony was attended by sisters of her own congrega... Read More

To proclaim Christ in the culture, we must know Christ; and to know Christ, we must know Scripture. As St Jerome observed, "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." But in order to uncover the spiritual and theological meaning of the Bible, we need to take a genuinely Catholic approach: reading it within the context of the great and beautiful chorus of voices from across the centuries ... Read More

A group of bishops, led by the presidents of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland, met in London for two days, from 9 to 10 January, to discuss the issues of the day and to share times of fraternal prayer and reflection. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, hosted the group, that i... Read More

The Catholic Lord Mayor of Westminster, Cllr Robert Rigby, was special guest in the belfry of Westminster Abbey yesterday, as bell ringers marked the 43rd birthday of HRH Catherine the Princess of Wales, with a chime for every year of her birth. A team of ten rang the 20-minute birthday sequence at 1pm in the historic tower 160 steps above ground level. The mighty bells, installed in 1971, have p... Read More

Five-and-a-half weeks after the second reading debate on Kim Leadbeater's assisted suicide bill and barely two weeks until Committee stage is due to commence, the call for evidence that was authorised in November has finally been issued. To quote a former director of legislative affairs at 10 Downing Street: "We shouldn't have to fight for the process to be taken seriously." No formal deadline has... Read More

In this Jubilee Year - a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, in which people are invited to come back into right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, Plymouth Diocese has launched a new Pilgrims of Hope passport inviting pilgrims to visit four historically and spiritually significant churches in Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset: The Cathedral Church of St Mary ... Read More

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Catholic director of the National Gallery in London, has received a knighthood for services to Art and Culture the King's 2025 New Year Honours List. Dr Finaldi said in a statement: "I am profoundly humbled by this honour and would like to express my gratitude for the recognition accorded to me and the whole National Gallery staff's commitment to public service, especially in ... Read More