Silvio’s burlesque

For the past month, Italian newspaper readers have been served up a daily diet of lurid tales about the sex life of their Prime Minister. But, ahead of this month’s G8 meeting in L’Aquila, is the latest betrayal one step too far for the people – and for the Church?...

Declaration of interdependence

Tony Blair’s comments to a Catholic audience in the United States this week on the importance of communication have highlighted the growing role of lay Catholics in the American Church. But lay-clerical collaboration has been a troubled journey, and there could be rough seas ahead...

Ahead of his time

This month marks the death 100 years ago of the Jesuit George Tyrrell, excommunicated and vilified by the Church for his embrace of modernism. But, as the author of a forthcoming study of his work argues here, he was a man whose struggles resonate in our own age...

First, heal yourself

Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of priestly formation when he launched the Year for Priests last month. A pioneering institute in Britain recognises that spiritual and intellectual development must be combined with a psychological approach...

Wish you were here?

Going off to camp for the summer used to be the province of the Scouts. Not any more. This year children can go to an atheist camp, subsidised by the foundation run by Richard Dawkins. Strawberry, aged 8, who has been to one such camp, wrote a letter home to her mother …...

Unending in our praise

The faithful are formed by the many gifts they receive, writes Daniel McCarthy. This prayer reflects the way that our increasing maturity engenders an increasing readiness to give ourselves, as we appreciate ever more deeply the gifts of God, and respond accordingly...

Worldly weddings

Today, even devout Christians sometimes have non-church marriage ceremonies. With humility, the Church could learn a good deal from the best ‘civil’ events – which can, according to Aquinas, still be sacramental...

All at sea over fish stocks

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