Easter: is there more to it than chocolate and bank holidays? For most of us Easter is a time of year we associate with chocolate eggs, bunnies, “bonnets”, sporting fixtures and bank...

Message of the Holy Father on the occasion of the XX World Day of the Sick (11 February 2012) "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you" (Lk 17:19) Dear Brothers and Sisters, On the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, which we will celebrate on 11 February 2012, the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to all sick people who are in places of care or are looked after in their families,...

  This weekend (27-29 February 2012), the Venerable English College (VEC), the Church's Seminary in Rome, celebrates a very significant milestone in the history of English and Welsh Catholicism. Friday 27 January marks the 650th anniversary of the Foundation Deed which established an English and Welsh Hospice on the site occupied by the VEC. Its foundation in 1362 makes this the oldest English institution outside England....

  The new translation of the Roman Missal provides an opportunity for parishes and communities across England and Wales to deepen their understanding of the Mass. For Catholics the Mass is at the heart of our faith and the words we use and how we celebrate express and shape what we believe.         From the beginning of September parishes in England and Wales began to use the new translation of...

  World Youth Day is a great worldwide encounter with the Pope which is celebrated every three years in a different country. This time it is celebrated in Madrid from August 16th to 21st, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, 18 August, conducted a formal greeting and prayer service at the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain, where he counselled the young people present to be firm in their faith and "build [their] lives...