John Wijngaards’ ‘Ten Commandments for Church Reform’ – a Review
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John Wijngaards’ ‘Ten Commandments for Church Reform’ – a Review

ByFons

John Wijngaards has set himself a challenging task. He has lived a full and fascinating life. He tells his story with a luxury of detail. It is obvious he is telling it ‘like it is’, or was. For any Catholic who has lived the experience of post-Vatican II, his book is a significant contribution to…

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A Tale of Two Christmases

ByFons

We have become used to parallel Christmases, Family Gatherings and Festive Good Cheer alongside Christmas Cribs and Nativity Plays. We’ve learned to enjoy both, though with a growing sense of unease at the widening gap opening up between them. It has become harder to ignore the poor and the homeless on our doorstep and across…

Timothy Radcliffe – ‘Hope and Despair are Contagious’
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Timothy Radcliffe – ‘Hope and Despair are Contagious’

ByFons

“It’s not just Omicron, but a sense that history is not going anywhere. There’s a rise of violence, threats of war, the ecological catastrophe… Many young people say they don’t want to have children because they don’t want to bring them into a world that has no future. But we believe in God’s future”. “I…

The Visitation – Histories, Hands, Sons Intertwined
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The Visitation – Histories, Hands, Sons Intertwined

ByFons

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have come to know the meaning and the consequences of ‘social distance’. At best, we have been allowed to constitute a small group – a bubble – of family or those with whom we normally share our lives. If it is true that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ then…

Advent: The ‘O Antiphons ‘Reimagined
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Advent: The ‘O Antiphons ‘Reimagined

ByFons

The O Antiphons are a series of seven verses dating from the sixth century and prayed during vespers during the last week of Advent. Each antiphon is a name of Jesus taken from Scripture, and they are the basis for the popular Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Ansgar’s images are saturated with color and…

DR Congo: ‘The Power of Women’ – a Book by Nobel Laureate Dr Denis Mukwege
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DR Congo: ‘The Power of Women’ – a Book by Nobel Laureate Dr Denis Mukwege

ByFons

This book for me can maybe raise the intimidation and maybe attempts on my life, but I think that it’s something that, for me, it’s just this feeling that I should do it. I have to do it. Because it’s a way to, also, to talk to the world about what is happening in my…

‘Growth’ – Newsletter of the Institute of St Anselm
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‘Growth’ – Newsletter of the Institute of St Anselm

ByFons

It is important that priests and religious learn how to use their relationships and emotions constructively and help parishioners to do the same. This is a large area in our formation which we can improve enormously. Most of our behaviour is influenced by the use of our emotions. For healthy community living in our families…

Winter Meditation Mix- Poor Clares Arundel
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Winter Meditation Mix- Poor Clares Arundel

ByFons

Spotify Exactly one year ago the Poor Clares of Arundel (near Brighton) caused a stir with their own CD, Light for the world. In a month, it became the most popular album ever released by a religious order. The CD contains well-known religious hymns, interspersed with music based on texts by Saint Clare of Assisi…