A pastoral deficit

The new English translation of the Missal being prepared by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy has caused grave concern. Here a leading liturgist argues that the translation falls short in one of its primary obligations...

Nick and Charlie?s new life

Catholic adoption agencies help create families from the most difficult of situations. Many fear that the continuity of support that characterises the agencies will be lost if they are forced to close within two years following the Church?s failure to secure exemption from the new equality regulations...

Braveheart joins the Church

In England it is seen as a matter of religious conscience over secular control. But in Scotland ?gay adoption? has become another battle in the war between Westminster and Holyrood, uniting clergy and politicians in the spirit of resistance...

Nun, nurse and mother

Her first hospice pioneered rest and respite for disabled children and their families, while her second did the same for young adults. Terry Philpot talks to Sr Frances Dominica, founder of Helen House and Douglas House in Oxford whose work is currently being highlighted on BBC2...

Failure to deliver

There may be a need for a public examination of the paedophile scandal rocking the Church worldwide. If there is, an Oscar-nominated documentary about clergy sexual abuse packing audiences into cinemas across the United States fails to fulfil it...

Just for today

Our desire for God?s definitive and ultimate favour is not directed simply towards the future; the longing we experience today, our living faith, allows the divine to exist in the present moment. Daniel McCarthy explains how, in the Opening Prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, our hope can become its own fulfilment...

Still part of the family

World Day of the Sick falls this year on 11 February. It is a time for churches to think creatively and compassionately about those parishioners who cannot attend Mass and the opportunities for mutual help that arise within the parish...

Every child a schooled child

Gordon Brown is committed to the Millennium Development Goal of free primary education for every child, and the World Bank?s Fast Track Initiative has the same aim. But is that aim achievable? asks Bernard O?Malley ...

Fat is a Lenten issue

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