Viewpoint

When Orla Guerin, the distinguished BBC foreign correspondent, broadcasts from a distant land, and Pat McFadden MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is interviewed here in Britain, you know things are bad. But at least you can begin to understand them. And Pat McFadden has that gift for making you think everything is all right: you should go to bed and it will be better in the morning. Everyt... Read More

There would not now be a war between Israel and Iran without President Trump. It has been evident for two decades that there were only two ways of stopping Iran going nuclear: either diplomacy or war. On 14 July 2015 the USA, France, China, Russia, Germany, and the EU/UK agreed a Joint Plan of Action, (JPCOA), a nuclear deal to limit and monitor Iran's stockpile and enrichment of uranium in exchan... Read More

No-one who has looked at the images of extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust Memorial of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem will underestimate the impact of the appalling 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and hostage-taking on Israelis and Jews worldwide. No-one watching the daily TV coverage of the civilian dead and dying amongst the rubble of Gaza, and listening to radio reports of attacks on Palest... Read More

A while ago, sticking to his imposition of tariffs, President Trump evoked stirring political pronouncements. We are entering a 'new era' Sir Keir Starmer declared. It still looks that way. A Treasury Minister announced the end of globalization. Perhaps splitting into two trading networks is underway. But where is guidance for alternatives to the current hijacking of the global economy to be found... Read More

The new Pope is inaugurated in St Peter's on Sunday. Then the great wave of public and media interest in the Catholic Church will subside. A few more people can now tell a pallium from a chasuble. A few more young men will no longer have to hide their admiration for the great gear worn by the Swiss Guard. And a few more detectorists will know not to look for the fisherman's ring on the beach. Decl... Read More

Friday, 2 May sees the release of a bonus episode of the All Kinds of Catholic podcast. Guests from four continents discuss Pope Francis' legacy in their lives and share their hopes for the next pope. Peter, from the Philippines, happened to be in Rome and was able to say a last farewell in person. Matthew has Nigerian heritage but stresses that the ethnicity of the new pope is something to "look ... Read More

Dr Philip Booth writes about Pope Francis and fraternity. This is a theme, he argues, that unites Pope Francis's social and pastoral teaching and can also unite people who come from different political perspectives as we consider how to promote a more fraternal society. In the coverage of the passing of Pope Francis to eternal life, surprisingly little has been said about an important aspect of P... Read More

What similarities are there between the rise of Adolf Hitler and the rise of Donald Trump? How are we as Christians being called to act when the whole basis of freedom and justice is being threatened by the current US administration? US-based Catholic Church Reform International launch a series of discussions on the subject on 9 April. They say: 'As the current US administration's policies unfold ... Read More

"Lesotho which nobody has ever heard of": this is Trump three weeks ago with customary offensiveness berating a US-funded aid programme in this small majority-Catholic African nation. Unusually not a flagrant lie - at least as far as his followers are concerned. Lesotho is not desperately poor but some 35% of people in Africa's 55 countries are still living in extreme poverty, 43% without electri... Read More

An American Catholic speaks her mind in this week's All Kinds of Catholic podcast episode. Judy says, 'I'm pretty turned off by the Catholic Church's refusal to allow women full leadership roles and it makes it really hard to sit through services. Certainly the church here in the United States, all over the world, has done profound damage to children and vulnerable people and it's part of the powe... Read More

Prayers for a seriously ill Pope seem to have been answered. But will we hear his voice again, speaking from the heart, truth to power, at this critical time? It is so badly needed. For his words have often broken through the political gaslighting to illuminate truths that give hope, and could do so again. It says something when a Guardian editorial (17 March) describes Francis' pontificate as mak... Read More

'When I was talking about human connection…having a conversation with one of the children at school, taking my dog for a walk, looking at a starry night, being before the Blessed Sacrament - it's all part of the same thing. I don't compartmentalise. There isn't, sort of, God things and mundane things.' A fantastic dialogue with Deacon Mark, quoted above, begins the season of Lent on the All Kind... Read More

US President Donald Trump has sparked outrage by publishing an AI-generated video that reimagines the Gaza Strip as a luxury tourist destination-complete with a golden idol of himself erected in the Holy Land. The video, shared on Trump's Instagram and Truth Social, depicts a surreal, futuristic Gaza transformed into a high-end beachfront resort, where the devastation of war is erased and replaced... Read More

Elon Musk's precipitate freezing of some $58 billion in US Foreign Aid allocated for 2025 was wrong in a number of ways: morally, or as an effective economic policy or as in the 'soft power' interests of the USA. It is a telling sign of the times. We are accustomed to Trump's lack of any concept of truth but the picture painted of development aid by him and Elon Musk still comes as a shock for any... Read More