Books

In the world of social ethics and political theology it is not often that two inspiring, thoughtful and fresh new books with wide relevance come along at the same time: Clemens Sedmak's superb new work: Enacting Mercy: Pope Francis and an Ethics of Institutions (Orbis) and Chris Shanahan's Life on the Breadline: Theology, Poverty and Politics in an Age of Austerity (SCM Press) are though two such ... Read More

For some reason, I had never read anything about or by St Thérèse of Lisieux until I read Fr Joseph Spence's Learning How to Love with St Therese. This was despite the fact that Pauline Sexton, my wonderful sponsor when I was welcomed into full communion with the Catholic Church in Maidstone in 1982, had a deep devotion to the saint, and that I later attended Mass at St Theresa's, Horn's Cross, ... Read More

The English version of Pope Leo XIV's book 'Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me,' has been released in the US, UK, Australia, and across the Commonwealth. 'Freedom Under Grace' brings together the Holy Father's reflections on the legacy of St Augustine that have shaped his spirituality and vision for the world. In addition to being the first-ever Pope from th... Read More

Catholic Prayers: A Prayer for Every Need, 700+ Authentic Prayers from Scripture, the Saints and the Church - for Healing, Protection, Strength, Family, Work and Every Season of Life. Published by Modern Life Press. This new Catholic prayer book, compiled by Thomas Cox at Modern Life Studio, brings together authentic prayers from the church, saints and Catholic teaching and I'd designed to be acc... Read More

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