This morning s firecracker announcement by Rome of a new canonical instrument for receiving Anglican congregations en masse see my earlier post here has been welcomed by Anglo-Catholics in the Church of England -- the ones who most matter Forward in Faith the main Anglo-Catholic grouping in the

Rome today has announced a legal means for disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholic while hanging on to their liturgies and rites It is a major move by Pope Benedict XVI the potential negative impact of which on relations between the two Churches was vigorously played down by the Archbishops

More than a million people took to the streets of Madrid yesterday to protest Spanish government plans to introduce abortion on demand nbsp A sea of protesters staged an early evening march across the city behind a huge banner reading CADA VIDA IMPORTA Every life matters to protest the Bill w

Not all of her just part of her thigh and foot bones in a gold casket towards the end of a tour of the UK The prison concerned is called Wormwood Scrubs really in west London Press Association reporter Martha Linden writes Around 100 inmates of Wormwood Scrubs prison venerated the relics of t

How odd At the end of a day in which the Guardian newspaper ran a piece by me praising Michael Moore s Catholicism I find myself having to apologize to the documentary-maker for questioning his faith In my post here yesterday I ended by posing a question about something that has been nagging me

The London Observer yesterday ran an article on the Catholicism of the documentary-maker Michael Moore whose new film apparently attacks capitalism from a Christian standpoint Moore is a practising Catholic and has put religion at the core of Capitalism A Love Story Alongside the political argum

On Pope Benedict XVI s to-do list when he comes to the UK next year -- when and for how long are still unknowns -- could well be advocacy for the European Union Britain s euro-indifference has hardened in recent years into a hostility to all things EU to the point where Catholic advocacy of the

John Micklethwait on the persistence of belief in a secular age

I ve spoken today to bishops and to people who have also spoken to bishops about yesterday s story see my post on next year s papal visit to the UK which will be only the second in British history the first was John Paul II s in 1982 What I ve learned 1 Both Rome and the Church in the UK w

The story is breaking that Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting the UK next year possibly to beatify Cardinal Newman But neither Downing St nor the Holy See are confirming or saying when -- so there s really not a lot to report And given that we knew he was going to visit next year at some point