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Doncaster: Priest, mineworker and artist - exhibition

Underground train - painting by David Lawrance

An exhibition marking the work of a priest in the coal mines in the 1970s and 1980s is on display at Cusworth Hall in Doncaster. The Reverend David Lawrance, chaplain for the Industrial Mission, worked in and around collieries in the 1970s and 1980s - including during the miners' strike - and kept extensive records and sketches of life and work underground. This exhibition, created from his drawi... Read More


Record number of Catholic schools in Big Lent Walk

More schools have signed up for CAFOD's Big Lent Walk this year than ever before. The wave of enthusiasm by Catholic young people comes hot on the heels of an extraordinary response to the Jubilee Year. So far over 760 schools, including at least 43 in Westminster diocese, are taking part in the charity's annual nationwide fundraising challenge, walking 200km over 40 days. In addition, over 1,000 ... Read More


Holy Week Poem: Thursday

Maundy Thursday: Towel and Sword Night gathers early. The room is dim. Bread on the table. Wine holding the last light. Outside, boots on stone. Empire still turns. Now too: Propellers in the dark. A drone circling above sleeping roofs. The long whistle of a bomb. Glass becoming rain. A child waking into fire. Inside, a bowl of water. He stands, slips off his robe, and takes up a towel. No one spe... Read More


Gospel in Art: Maundy Thursday

Scenes from Christ's Passion, top left to bottom right: entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper; Christ washing disciples' feet, Agony in the Garden; Betrayal of Christ the Crucifixion © Alamy

Gospel of 2 April 2026 John 13:1-15 Before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands,... Read More

Space and humanity at a crossroads: A new frontier of the common good

The Blue Marble - taken during Apollo 17 lunar mission 1972 . Image: NASA

On the occasion of the launch of the NASA Artemis II mission on Wednesday, 1 April, 2026, the Caritas in Veritate Foundation has released a video featuring reflections and perspectives on space exploration and the principles that should govern humanity's relationship with it. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, in an interview with Vatican media, affirms that "space must remain a common good, with clear... Read More


Holy Thursday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons

Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

April 2nd 2026 Ubi Caritas On Holy Thursday most of us focus on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper and the watching with that sacramental presence of the Lord, as our altars are stripped bare in preparation for the solemn day of Good Friday. But the English title for this day, Maundy Thursday from the Latin word mandatum, hints at a profound otherness in what takes place and point... Read More


Holy Week Poem: Wednesday

Spikenard - Joseph Dalton Hooker. Wiki image

Spikenard and Ash She moved like silence in a room full of eyes, broke the jar like a prophet breaks the sky. No words, Just oil - and the scent of burial. The men coughed, like they'd inhaled scandal. She poured a year's wage on his worn feet, and wiped them with her dignity undone. And the church- still, at times, finds itself in the crucible of pain and suffering. There, it pours itself out- in... Read More


Easter Message from Heads of Churches in Jerusalem

Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."1 Peter 1:3 'In the weeks leading up to this year's commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection, a new and devastating regional war has once again plunged the Holy Land and the wider Middle East into turmoil. Eac... Read More


Patriarchs condemn attacks in Syria, pray for peace

Worshipper lights candles in St.Paul's Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth 01 April 2026

His Beatitude John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East; His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church; and His Beatitude Youssef Absi, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, condemned attacks on the city of Al-Suqaylabiyah in Hama, Syria-including acts of... Read More


Pope Leo: Lay people help Church reach all and promote peace

Image: Vatican Media

Lay people's service and witness is essential to building a Church that reaches out to all and spreads the Gospel, along with justice, charity and peace, Pope Leo XIV said during today's General Audience with pilgrims in St Peter's Square. "The vast field of the lay apostolate is not confined to the Church, but extends to the world," Pope Leo said. "The Church is present wherever her children prof... Read More


Text: Archbishop Moth at Westminster Cathedral Chrism Mass

Image: ICN/JS

Archbishop Richard Moth delivered this homily yesterday at the Westminster Cathedral Chrism Mass. Dear Brothers and Sisters, In today's first reading, the Prophet Isaiah recognises himself as being the prophet chosen by the Lord to bring new life to the people. "The Lord has anointed me", he says. When we come to the Gospel, Jesus Himself, the Word made Flesh, the only Son of the Father, takes up ... Read More


Holy Week Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: Wednesday

Man of Sorrow 15th C German Wiki Image

Wednesday in Holy Week is the last day of Lent, and in English tradition often called Spy Wednesday on account of the gospel narrative of Judas betrayal of Jesus to the High Priests for thirty pieces of silver. I find it a rather ambiguous title, as like others, I feel Judas deserves compassionate treatment. But be that as it may, this day leads us directly into the Triduum, the three-day continuo... Read More


Gospel in Art: Wednesday of Holy Week

Judas the Iscariot: And It Was Night, by Christopher Williams © Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum and Galleries

Gospel of 1 April 2026 Matthew 26:14-25 At that time: One of the Twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?' And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Where would you have ... Read More


The Pope Video: April 2026 - For priests in crisis

In the life of the Church, priests are called to accompany, support and serve their communities. But they themselves can go through difficult moments in which they need closeness and support. With this in mind, Pope Leo XIV, in his prayer intention for the month of April, invites us to pray for priests experiencing a crisis, that they might experience the nearness of God and his people, and redisc... Read More

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