Austen Ivereigh

Here in Barcelona I ve just finished a long noisy family lunch which began with children opening presents Today the Feast of the Epiphany — we ve lost sight of it in the US and the UK since it was merged with last Sunday — is the day when in Spain gifts are given commemorating those present

The former primate of all Ireland Cardinal Cahal Daly who died on New Year s Eve aged 92 was the Irish Church s leading intellectual As a priest he wrote background papers for the bishops attending the Second Vatican Council as a bishop he worked tirelessly for peace and ecumenism speaking ou

I spent the Octave of Christmas offline — hence no posts for which apologies — deep in the south-west of England daily visiting my father who is the dementia unit of an elderly care home When I started contributing to In All Things a year ago he was able to log on from his home to read these

One of the world s most popular pilgrimage sites is set to be even more popular this year 2010 is a Holy Year for the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela which happens every time 25 July — feast day of St James the Apostle said to be buried in the city s extraordinary cathedral — falls on

A very useful summary of the dialogue which has begun between Rome and the traditionalist Society of Pius X SSPX slipped out of a homily given in Argentina on 19 December by Msgr Alfonso de Galarreta as reported by an Argentinian site called Panorama Catolico Internacional h t The Tablet s man i

Traditional Christian concern for foreigners on the move — Every migrant enjoys inalienable fundamental rights which must be respected in all cases says the key Vatican document — is heightened at Christmas when minds turn to a displaced family 2 000 years ago that was also in search of shelte

Two Jesuits from the Society s European office in Brussels are at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen as NGO observers part of a team of Franciscans International Jos eacute Ignacio Garcia and Jacques Haers are keeping up a blog with posts in English and in Spanish Hat tip to the UK s redoubt

The Episcopal Church has voted to appoint a lesbian bishop Like Gene Robinson whose election in 2003 split the Anglican Communion Mary Glasspool elected a suffragan by the Diocese of Los Angeles Saturday is in a long-term gay relationship She views her election as in political terms ldquo An

In my post the other day on the Swiss vote to ban Muslim minarets I missed something I ve just learned from The Tablet While the Swiss Catholic bishops and the Vatican — along with religious leaders across Europe — deplored this assault on religious freedom the traditionalist Society of St Pi

Like Fr Jim I cheered Cardinal Bergoglio s view — also Pope Benedict s — about the importance of liberality in granting access to the Sacrament of baptism Infants cannot be disqualified because there are no proper grounds for disqualifying the innocent even if their parents show little sign of