Many lay people active in campaigns to limit or ban abortions, complain they are met with resistance by their parish priests in attempts to publicise or gain support for such projects as walks for life, prayer vigils to end abortion, campaigns to pressure politicians...
The Church is the mother of our faith because she generates us, she nourishes us, she strengthens us in the faith (Lumen Gentium, n. 6-7). Saint Cyprian affirms: “One can not have God as Father who does not first have the Church as mother.”{{1}} And he adds: “we are...
It is fitting that we gather as priests from across the Anglophone world to pray and confect the Eucharist together in the ancient Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Its origins are obscure, but certainly very early. Tradition claims that this was the first church...
“The Magi, seeing the star, said to each other: this is the sign of a great King: let us go and seek Him, and let us offer Him gifts, gold, incense and myrrh.” — Antiphon to the Magnificat. Dear brothers in the priesthood, deacons, and brothers and sisters of the lay...
The last few months have been unique: the abrupt end of one papacy and the election of the first Pope from the new world! We have never confronted the situation of farewelling a Pope who was still alive. This has been a difficult time for many of us who have loved and...
What a time to be in Rome! As the world was gripped by the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis, I found myself not just a close observer of these historic events but living them from their very centre. On December 31st last year I was...
The first document of an Ecumenical Council devoted entirely to divine worship was Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963). Because people experience the Church primarily through worship, no other document of the Second Vatican Council...
Professionalism and the priest. What a strange title for an article on the priesthood! Priesthood isn’t a profession – it’s a vocation. Agreed. It is above all a vocation, a calling from God from all eternity to serve souls in the ministry, making Jesus Christ present...
And some observations on the Nouvelle Theologie In this article the intent is to consider the relation between Church and State based upon the relation between grace and nature. It is believed that a failure to do this leads to all sorts of misconceptions about Church...