Viewpoint

You need to fall back on words such as evil and wicked, not much used these days, to describe the Israeli Government's banning from Gaza of some 37 humanitarian NGOs after a re-registration process. That ban ends, and sums up, a year in which not even clever propaganda and disinformation could disguise the true purpose of IDF brutality. But Palestinian national self determination was not the only ... Read More

The carol, 'In the bleak midwinter' by Christina Rosetti is regularly in the top 10 of the vote for nation's favourite carols. Verse 5, however is frequently omitted - its the one which says: Enough for him, whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay; AI tells me that, 'This verse describes the intimate and humble nature of the Incarnation' but suggests that th... Read More

Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian and author chosen for this year's Reith lectures, gave them the title Moral Revolution, describing a wicked world, venal elites, and a degraded politics. He aims to make goodness "fashionable again" and has an enviable rhetorical and narrative style to that end. His is a message primarily directed at civil society not to our own - unfashionable -Government, tell... Read More

At a time of enduring national crisis, often emerging from public leadership built on straw, something hopeful happened last Friday: There was a recalibration of depth into and across the foundations and mission of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Let me explain. Over the years I have enjoyed working alongside a number of Bishops: As a teenager Bishop Anthony Emery of Portsmouth inspi... Read More

A concept of National Security that denies action to combat climate change, demands drastic cuts in international aid, and rejects all but narrow national interest, marked the first months of Donald Trump second Presidency. The publication of the 'National Security Strategy of the United States of America', November 2025, formalised this as US foreign policy. For many Europeans, it is a shocking a... Read More

Most democracies sign up to promoting religious freedom abroad. Trump wants to go in guns-blazing. Others feel uncomfortable raising the question of Christian persecution. Why should Christians get privileged attention amongst the many victims of human rights violations and discrimination? Are they disproportionately victims of violence? In Nigeria the question is particularly contentious. Its pop... Read More

As the Pope travelled back to the Vatican from Lebanon, the President of Bosnia was arriving in the UK to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Agreement. Dayton marked the final close of the wars of independence in former Yugoslavia and especially a conflict where Bosnian Muslims had been neglected by the West leaving them open to persecution and, indeed, genocide at the hands of... Read More

Britain's markets need the Christian 'big reveal' that began this week with Advent. Without the coming of the Christ-child, most town-centres would be boarded up. The emotional push and pull of Christmas sustains a prodigious expenditure on gifts and food that buffers shops and stores from the consequences of low 'footfall' during the rest of the year. As a prompt to start the buying, the American... Read More

Much has been made of Pope Leo's time in Peru and his closeness to the late Pope Francis from Argentina. Being first American Pope has been no less newsworthy. But his impact on the USA is proving more important than his outreach to Latin America. He has deplored the cruelty of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and expects the US bishops unitedly to follow his lead championing the human... Read More

A couple of months ago, I was turning a corner to enter the temporary church beside Salford Cathedral when I came across two parishioners from a previous Mass discussing 'Critical Race Theory'. I was amazed and taken aback. It's not something I've ever heard discussed at the back of a church, even though the parish where I work has parishioners from over 50 different nations, several of those bein... Read More

Remembrance Sunday is a time for looking back, with reflection on action and prayers for peace in the future. "Somebody should visit John's grave". A vivid childhood memory is hearing my granny urging that a family member pay respects at her brother's grave in France. It was 1969 and John had been dead for 51 years, but she often reminisced of how he was killed on 15 October 1918. He had been serv... Read More

In a world riven by conflicts in which religious identity plays a significant part interfaith dialogue is not an abstract idea. Pope Leo in a speech to representatives of world religions and members of the diplomatic corps, Walking Together in Hope, celebrated the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate signed near the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Subtitled 'Declaration on Relations with N... Read More

'To give a voice to love' - Media and Information Literacy week At the beginning of October a young American sister wearing a habit posted a short video on twitter (X) giving some excellent helpful suggestions of how to pray the rosary. Amid the many replies of thanks was this one who identified him/herself as a 'trad' user tweeting, 'Good to promote the rosary, but your sleeves should be below t... Read More

One of the anomalies of English Catholicism is that Catholics working for social justice have in the past been made to feel they are oddities, peripheral to the main life of the Church, worship, sacraments, and prayer, a troublesome add-on, sometimes vaguely threatening. Yet the St Vincent de Paul Society active in every parish and the red boxes of the Pontifical Mission Societies (MISSIO today) i... Read More