What really caused the crash of 2008

Politicians have complained about corporate greed and the culture of huge bonuses for the financial crisis now engulfing the markets. But simply promising tighter regulation will not curb what is in reality a much wider problem...

His silence spoke volumes

There have been renewed calls for the beatification of Pope Pius XII in the run-up to the fiftieth anniversary of his death. But controversy remains concerning his failure to speak out about the plight of the Jews during the Second World War. Here a senior Jewish historian offers his assessment...

Ancient rule for modern times

For Benedictine abbots who gathered in Rome for the order’s international abbatial congress, a fall in vocations in the West is of paramount concern. Yet that decline is matched by an appetite for monastic life: guesthouses, schools and retreat centres are full...

The limits of dissent

Fr Waclaw Hryniewicz has devoted much of his working life to the cause of ecumenism, but he has been called to account by Rome for an online essay written in sympathy for the ‘pain’ he felt a Vatican document had caused Protestants. The issue has descended into a bitter row of claims and counter-claims...

Sanctified by service

Daniel McCarthy examines the Prayer Over the Gifts for this week, which focuses on the sacrifices that the faithful offer – of service, of humility, and to love one another – as established by Christ at Last Supper. Through these sacrifices, they celebrate the holy mysteries and are redeemed...

The signs we give

Isaiah tells us that we are so important to God that he has written our names on his hands (49:16). For deaf-blind people at Mass, this image is especially powerful: the words of the liturgy must be finger-written on the palm. And for a deaf-blind priest, communication of the Word is still possible...

Don't duck the mallard

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