St. Mary’s University hosts the Centre for the Art of Dying Well, directed by Maggie Doherty: artofdyingwell.org Maggie recently appeared on the Radio 4 programme, Beyond Belief.
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BBC Radio 4 Beyond Belief – Grief
Category: Human Dignity
Culture, compassion, consistency and conscience – addressing public policy challenges
In this longer article, Archbishop of Southwark, Most Rev John Wilson, argues that re-evangelisation and the revival of a Christian culture is necessary if we are to successfully make progress in addressing public policy challenges
Read more >>Love the Stranger
Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto, Secretary General of COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union), introduces the new document, published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Love the Stranger.
Read more >>“Now, I’m a Union Man”? – Catholic social teaching and trade unions
The band “The Strawbs”, perhaps most famous for “Now, I’m a Union Man”, was formed at St. Mary’s before it was a university (they were originally called “The Strawberry Hill Boys”). The lyrics of that song, don’t really accord with Catholic social teaching on unions (“I say what I think, that the company stinks”…”With a hell of a shout, it’s ‘Out brothers, out!’ And the rise of the factory’s fall”…“And I always get my way If I strike for higher pay”…), but it is a good song and forms an interesting preface to an article on Catholic social teaching and trade unions.
Read more >>Our People Gasp for Peace – Give Peace a Chance
Cardinal Bo of Myanmar reflects on World Peace Day in the context of a nation of nearly 60 million that is trapped in the most appalling wars against its own people. This article is his World Peace Day message issued in his capacity as Chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar.
Read more >>No-one is born a slave
What is modern slavery? The UK introduced the Modern Slavery Act into legislation in England and Wales in 2015, partly in response to the growing referrals of suspected cases into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The Act defines slavery as servitude and forced or compulsory labour. This incorporates a broad range of situations, including forced criminality; sexual exploitation; removal of organs; and securing services by force, threat or abuse, including from children and vulnerable people.
Read more >>World Day of the Poor
This week’s blog post is an extract from Pope Francis’s message for the World Day of the Poor on 4th November 2022. The full message can be found at: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/papal-message-world-day-of-the-poor-2022/
Read more >>Ukraine and self defence in Christian teaching
The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has posed great challenges to Christian teaching about the waging of war and the insights of Catholic Social teaching, issues such as the immorality of an aggressive war, international relations and the welcoming of refugees. However these is one issue which is not met by a straightforward moral response: self-defence.
Read more >>Depression, suicides, deaths of friends – prisoners tell their stories to the Cardinal
There are some who worry that prison is like “a holiday camp” these days, although maybe this sentiment will be less prevalent given what so many have been through during the pandemic.
Read more >>Is the technocratic paradigm our new religion?
Some of you may be familiar with the phrase “technocratic paradigm” from Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato si’. But what is he talking about? I define it as an all-encompassing expression of a technical way of thinking.
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