Martyn Percy leaves the Church of England
In the glorious Chapel of Exeter College, Oxford, on the Feast Day of St. Matthias the Apostle on Saturday 14th May, the Very Rev'd Professor Martyn Percy preached his final…
Mary
‘The Lady of Heaven’ is Islam’s ‘Life of Brian’ moment
'The Lady of Heaven' is currently being pulled from cinema chains because it is considered 'blasphemous' by certain Muslims. They have a perfect right to protest, of course: this is a free country. But once again we see the assertion…
Euthanasia: New Zealand Catholic Bishops make priests complicit
Euthanasia (/Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide) is now legal in New Zealand. If you want to die there today, there is now someone to help you along your way with all the…
How can a court force a Catholic woman to abort her child?
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel Gabriel, on hearing she was pregnant and not fully understanding. "O, if you don't fully understand what it means, better to have…
Notre Dame de Paris – the soul of France consumed by unholy smoke
The air is full of mourning and crying. The hearts of Christians are bereft; another tribulation of Christendom defiles God's acre on the Seine. They sang ancient Elysian hymns as…
‘Light in the Darkness’ – Rev’d Jonathan Aitken preaches Christmas sermon to the Foreign Office
Here is the sermon preached by the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken at the Foreign Office Carol Service, Grand Locarno Room, King Charles St, Westminster, on Tuesday 18th December 2018: It is a…
Patriarchal pronouns: if we should stop calling God ‘he’, may we call Satan ‘she’?
The Rev'd Canon Rosie Harper wants to vomit. That's what she wrote in her article 'Toxic masculinity: Why we should stop calling God "he"'. What makes her want to vomit…
The Lamentation: a reflection for Good Friday
The Lamentation is one of the limited number of subjects permitted to an icon writer within the Orthodox tradition. It renders the observer present at one of the low points…
Catholic School removes statues of Mary and Jesus to be more inclusive
In this season of rampant anti-statue-ism, where Cecil Rhodes must fall, Edward Colston must tumble, Robert E Lee must be toppled, Captain Cook must yield, Admiral Horatio Nelson must be…
Our Lady of Brexit? Why not consecrate the UK to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
It has been announced that Scotland is to be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary "for the first time". It is believed that the act will set Scotland apart…
Qur’an in the Eucharist? The Provost of Glasgow Cathedral subverts Christian revelation
This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, Chaplain to the Queen. __________________________ I have just returned from Paris where I was invited to be part of…
TGI Monday: The 'missing years' in the life of Jesus
What about the 'missing years' of Jesus' life which the Bible doesn't tell us about? Where was he? What was he doing? Did he journey to India and train…
Holy Saturday: marginalisation, persecution, martyrdom
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus…
Against heresy: if Jesus called God 'Father', who are we to conflate Him with Mary?
'For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist' (2Jn 1:7). The…
Good Friday: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple…
Behold your God!
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be…
#ChristmasMeans anything but peace on earth
Today marks the official start of the Church of England's #ChristmasMeans Twitter campaign. Church congregations and clergy are being encouraged to get out their smartphones to let the Twittersphere know…