The Catholic Church
St. Augustine
The last true intellectual of antiquity
When Francis Was Still Jorge
Cardinal Bergoglio’s road to the Vatican
Pietro Lavini
The Capuchin friar single-handedly returned a medieval church in Italy’s Appenine mountains to its former glory
The Pagan Problem In Western Thought
“By all means, let the wicked fry in Hell—but why should they find themselves frying alongside innocent and virtuous pagans?”
Unturbulent Priest
The memoirs of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor
Ushaw College
Richard III’s robe and St Cuthbert’s ring are just two of the treasure of this former Catholic seminary
Is There Such A Thing As A Religious Vote In The UK?
The voting patterns of religious voters in Britain are more complicated than they first appear. Politicians should stop treating faiths as bloc votes
Protestant Power Games
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, superbly adapted for television, is brilliant because it defies easy definition
Saintly Networkers
Kate Cooper’s pacy tale of heroines, virgins and martyrs recounts the largely unknown role of women in shaping the early Church
How Jesuitical is the Pope?
Mealy-mouthed and equivocal or just shy? Two new books help us to understand the motives and beliefs of the enigmatic Pope Francis
How Top Boys topple down crime’s ladder
Too many prisoners rejoin society with no education, stable housing or job prospects. No surprise that more than half reoffend within a year
In the bleak midwinter
Christmas can be a bleak time of year. While some feel isolated, others are overwhelmed by the need for a perfect family Yuletide when their reality is different
My warnings to our spy watchdogs
Britain is under attack from Russia. And the government is blocking a Parliamentary report that details it