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Gospel of 5 October 2026 Luke: 10:25-37 At that time: Behold, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How do you read it?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour a... Read More

An anti-far right march was held in London yesterday, in commemoration of the Battle of Cable Street 90 years ago, in which London's East End drove out Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists as they attempted, aided by the police, to intimidate the predominantly Jewish community of the East End. The protestors gathered at 12 noon to hear speeches from Tower Hamlets' political, faith and communi... Read More

Fr Bashar Fawadleh, Parish Priest of the Latin Patriarchate in Taybeh, the last fully Christian village in the West Bank, writes: As the olive harvest begins, the same fears are returning to homes across Taybeh. What is happening on the ground suggests that this season may be little different from the previous three, when many families faced repeated difficulties in reaching their land safely and... Read More

Bishop John Keenan, President of the Marriage, Family and Life Commission of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland has issued the following statement today in response to government calls to decriminalise abortion. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is deeply concerned by renewed calls to decriminalise abortion in Scotland and to remove existing legal safeguards governing the ending of unborn human... Read More

Tennessee's Catholic Bishops have joined the US state's Episcopal Bishops to issue an ecumenical appeal in the wake of the twice-failed execution of Christa Pike on September 30. In their joint statement issued on October 1, the Bishops asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to spare Ms Pike's life and prevent another attempt to carry out her death sentence. Ms. Pike, 50, survived two doses of a letha... Read More

Pope Leo gave a reflection on the relationship between the Church and art in an address to participants in a meeting on Friday, promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, entitled: "The Art of Possibility: Weaving Together." Especially in "the age of search engines," Pope Leo said, the Church stands in need of artists," who can aid pastors in making the Gospel "accessible and understand... Read More

Gospel of 4 October 2026 Matthew 21:33-43 At that time: Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, 'Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence round it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get... Read More

Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell are inviting people across the island Ireland - and beyond - to pray the Prayer of Saint Francis this weekend at home, at Mass and at services. In a newly recorded video, the two archbishops jointly recite the Prayer for Peace of Saint Francis. Their invitation comes as the community faces the ongoing crisis at Drumcree. In the following joint s... Read More

On Sunday, 4 October, the 800th feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi will be celebrated throughout Italy as a national holiday, for the first time in half a century. The bells of Assisi will ring at midnight tonight. Thousands of pilgrims began arriving in Assisi from 24 September to take part in many events commemorating the great saint. A Solemn Commemoration of the Transitus: remembering the f... Read More

Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time and Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi and 800th Anniversary of his death I write this in gentle recuperation in my family village in France. Surrounding me are the forests and lakes of the first plateau of the Alps in the Jura Department of the Bourgogne-Franche Comte Region, but particularly in this locale of the great vine growing region of what is called th... Read More

Gospel of 3 October 2026 Luke 10-17-24 At that time: The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' And Jesus said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, tha... Read More

Reflecting on the recently announced theme for World Communications Day 2027, Bishop John Arnold, Lead Bishop for Communications for the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, says that 'real' communication requires a human, relational connection. "Information has never been more readily available - and on a global scale - but information does not equate with communication," says Bishop Arnold,... Read More

In a corner of rural Devon better known for its market town history than its diversity, St John and St James Church in Tiverton reopened last month after a rebuild that nearly doubles its size - the realisation of a decades' long promise of a new Catholic church for Tiverton. The parish's growth has tracked migration into the region: people from Central and Eastern Europe, some of whom returned ho... Read More

There are people whose story does not end when they leave this life, because their lives themselves become a testimony. The places where they served carry something of their prayers, their struggles, and their love. Among these people is Father Archimandrite Justinus, whose name was closely connected for many years with Jacob's Well and its monastery and church in Nablus, a sacred place that holds... Read More