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The Christmas that Pope Francis held a nation together
It was in 2001 that Jorge Mario Bergoglio really showed his amazing strength of character on the world stage. The highly dramatic year began with a promotion and ended with him calming a storm. The...
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Meet The Catholic Herald people of 2013
Joint Person of the Year: Pope Benedict In the 2,000-year history of the Church, few popes have performed greater acts of humility. In 2013 Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to abdicate....
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You may call me Little Miss Sunshine!
The wonderfully thoughtful and intellectual Mulier Fortis has very kindly nominated me for a Sunshine Award. Now, I will delight in leaping through the following hoops… Write 10 pieces of information...
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We have the ‘Francis effect’ to thank for the reopening of Ireland’s Vatican...
Over at The Catholic Herald, I have a piece on the subject...
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An old antidote to Coronation Street poison
It’s been a morbid week in British TV. The ITV soap opera, Coronation Street featured the ultimate act of self-destruction. Hayley Cropper, the transgender wife of Roy, had been battling pancreatic...
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Philip Seymour Hoffman's role as Fr Flynn was among his greatest performances
The macabre details of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s demise are becoming a source of ghoulish fascination: that he was found sprawled on his bathroom floor with a needle hanging from his arm, that his...
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Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.
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Hillary Clinton need not be a nightmare for Catholics
Over at The Catholic Herald, I wrote a post explaining why I've become a little more open to Hillary.
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Be happy for me, I have met the perfect...
...dog. Finally and at long last it has happened to me. After years of chasing dogs in the London parks, asking owners if I could pat the heads of their pooches, and admiring tail-waggers that were...
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Pope Francis's Vocation Story
The future Pope was 16 years old and in love. It was 1953 and he had met the young woman he hoped would agree to be his wife. The day of September 21 dawned and he was summoning the nerve to ask his...
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Catholic journalists and bloggers have a duty to tell the truth about Francis
The secular media are in love with a pope of their own creation...Over at The Catholic Herald, I wrote a blog calling on Catholic writers to seize the golden opportunity before them. It was only a...
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The art of wearing a pint of Guinness on my head...
A very happy St Patrick's Day to all my readers and dear friends
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I never thought I'd do this...
...but I’ve decided not to read e-mails coming from trolls. It’s been my personal policy since the new year of 2014 dawned. And I’ve made good on my decision in the last month when a group of trolls...
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Yesterday, I was interviewed on the question, "are liberals in love with a...
Yesterday morning, it was a luminous, sunny day here in London. A team from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation came to my small, sunlit flat. Intrepid reporter, Ellen Mauro interviewed me on camera,...
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The Judas Complex
Today, on the eve of Spy Wednesday, I read Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith's blog post entitled, 'Love and envy: exploring the psychology of Judas'. It's a very good blog. Fr Lucie-Smith entertains the...
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Whenever I blog about Pope Francis...
....there is a sharp rise in blog stats and there's a surge in comments. On average, I might get 500 hits a day, when I blog about Pope Francis it jumps to a minimum of 1,500. You can't deny that there...
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British Blogger Eccles may become a superstar in Canada
Eccles might be showcased on TV soon. It all started when I was being interviewed on Pope Francis by CBC. The news team wanted to film me at my computer and when I said that I got a comment from...
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The Path Less Taken goes black...
As it's Good Friday and the most solemn day of the year, I have changed the design on my blog to a vaguely charcoal black, as a mark of respect when we contemplate Our Lord's Sorrowful Passion. Here is...
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As bishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis didn't make his own priests wait
In October, Pope Francis performed his first Episcopal ordinations. In his sermon, Francis urged the newly consecrated archbishops, to "always respond immediately when a priest calls... Never let a...
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