Books

A new book by Dr Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ - A Time to Reflect: Meditations Through The Year Based on Year B of the Catholic Lectionary has just been published by SPCK. This rich and accessible collection of reflections and prayers follows the Roman Catholic lectionary, covering Sundays and major feast days including Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, the Annunciation, Ascension, and Corpus Christi. E... Read More

Justice and Truth Win Freedom - The fight against women and child sex slavery - ISBN: 9789403928876 A powerful story of one man's life-long fight for justice and freedom for thousands of sexually abused and trafficked women and children in the Philippine sex trade. Father Shay Cullen, 83, is an Irish missionary priest and a member of the Missionary Society of St Columban who founded the PREDA Foun... Read More

'The Answers Are There' by Libby Hoffman, Publisher: Blue Chair Press. This could have been written for a divided Britain in the 21st century. But it is the story of how people in Sierra Leone repaired their communities following the civil war (1991-2002, 50,000 dead) and Ebola (4,000 dead). The success rests in the belief that local inhabitants, and not national politicians, academics, NGO expert... Read More

How Catholics Encounter the Bible by Michael Peppard. Publisher: New York, Oxford University Press, 2025 ISBN 9780190948696 Michael Peppard is the American son of an Evangelical Protestant mother, who read her Bible every day, and a practising Catholic father who never opened the book but was satisfied with being able to say, "I know the stories." Perhaps to his own surprise, the author, now a C... Read More

If you find it difficult to imagine what it might be like to live in a war zone, I recommend this deeply moving book. In fact, I recommend it to anyone and everyone, with no ifs and no buts. It is inspirational. The heroes of this story are the ordinary people of Gaza, and particularly the members of the tiny Christian community (now shrunken to around a thousand people in the Catholic and larger... Read More

One of the greatest strengths of the Catholic Church is its diversity. Sadly far to often diversity becomes a source of division and conflict rather than joy and fellowship. Let us not forget the words in Corinthians Chapter 1 where we are reminded that we are all one body or indeed Psalm 133 which talks about dwelling in unity! Joanna Bogle has produced a wonderfully informative little book explo... Read More

What does a diplomat's musings have in common with a Homeric epic? Fresh from seeing the block-buster film, The Odyssey, I recently attended with curiosity the launch of diplomat Paul Grey's memoir, whose title echoes the Greek epic. Perhaps it was simply a history of his lengthy travels, I thought. Unlike the blockbuster, Sir Paul Grey's book is not new, despite the name. He died in 1990, b... Read More

Reimagining the Post-Conflict State by Eric Budd, Bloomsbury Books. At a time when conflict is causing such misery in the Middle East and Africa, what does it take to ensure that peace - if it comes - is durable, and not just a series of temporary ceasefires? Eric Budd looks at peace agreements in Rwanda, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bosnia. He suggests an imposed peace - one f... Read More

A British Childhood. How Our Children Live Now. Publisher: Picador, Dublin 2026 No teacher needs to read this book - unless they wish to marvel at the extraordinary work that they do, guiding their young charges through the post-Austerity, post-Covid, over-stimulated, over-connected and yet strangely isolated mlieu we have created. The rest of us would benefit enormously from engaging with Frank ... Read More

During a visit to Westport in Co Mayo I came across a very interesting book entitled 'Steps to the Summit' written by retired priest, Fr Tony King. 'Summit' refers to the Holy Mountain - Croagh Patrick - commonly called The Reek that casts a shadow over Westport town and surrounding area. According to folklore, St Patrick is reputed to have spent 40 days fasting and praying on the mountain which f... Read More

I have often wondered, What was it like to witness the life and teaching of Jesus from the edge of the crowd? How did people piece together the clues, before the gospel narrative we know well was established? In a personal response to these questions I have written 25 fictional short stories. Each story is written in the first person. So, among others, we hear the voices of a midwife, a physician,... Read More

The Vatican Publishing House (LEV) has released the English edition of "The Lord Holds Us by the Hand," which brings together previously unpublished homilies delivered by Pope Benedict XVI during private Masses celebrated during his pontificate and after his resignation. The volume, originally published in Italian by the Vatican Publishing House under the title "Il Signore ci tiene per mano," gath... Read More

In 2025 The London Borough of Wandsworth commemorated three nuns who lived and worked in this part of South London. These three religious are now celebrated in a new book - Extraordinary Women of Wandsworth -which profiles the lives of more than eighty women connected to the Borough. Organised into eight sections-Entrepreneurs, Writers, Scientists, Artists, Activists, Entertainers, Educators and S... Read More

The English editorial team of Vatican Radio - Vatican News has produced an audiobook of Pope Leo XIV's first Encyclical letter: Magnifica humanitas on Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.' The publication of Magnifica Humanitas took place on May 25, 2026. Pope Leo XIV signed the document on May 15, exactly on the 135th anniversary of the promulgation of 'Rerum Nova... Read More