Fr Erasto Fernandez SSS continues his series on the Eucharist in this the Year for Priests. Pope Benedict XVI holds the Book of the Gospels as he celebrates Mass at the end of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican last year. Photo: CNS. By Fr Erasto Fernandez SSS   Ask anyone what is our response to the readings at Eucharist...

Good intentions are not enough. Intrepid Record journalist Mark Reidy set out to discover what constitutes good Catholic funeral etiquette. By Mark Reidy   There are only two certainties in life we are told – taxes and death. We have accountants and other professionals to consult when it comes to dealing with the complexities of taxpaying, but it appears that many Cat...

There is no such thing as ‘corporate guilt’ says The Record's Guy Crouchback.   Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, pictured with the Pope in March this year, who famously remarked, "there is no such thing as society." Photo: CNS.   By Guy Crouchback   As readers of this column may know, I greatly admire t...

Q & A with Fr John Flader. This week's question: I have always been confused about the two apostles named James. Which is the one that is associated with the Way of St James in Spain, which some of my friends have walked? And what is the historical basis for this pilgrimage, that so many people seem to make? King Juan Carlos of Spain honors the statue of St. James the Apostle during ...

John Heard tells of his own need for sensitive, savy and truth-talking priests. By John Heard   A man cannot write for himself. As Thomas Merton rather theatrically stated: “If you write only for yourself, you can read what you yourself have written and after ten minutes you will be so disgusted, you will wish that you were dead”. I would not put it s...

There's no silver bullet for Catholics when it comes to marriage says Catherine Parish. By Catherine Parish The Record’s feature on Catholics and Divorce makes for sad reading; and it is a tragedy that certainly can’t be ameliorated in a 500 word essay.  We need to get back to the beginning with this one. It’s always instructive to start with Our Lord...

How do I pray? Rev. Deacon Patrick Moore speaks with The Record's Debbie Warrier. By Debbie Warrier   I was born in England and came to Australia in 1970. A few months after I arrived I met my wife Carol and we started going out together about a year later. We were married in 1972 and have six children, four girls and two boys as well as two grandchildren. I had ...

Lone priest shepherds tiny flock of Catholics in Afghanistan.   Afghan children look on as Canadian soldiers with the NATO-led coalition patrol a compound in the Taliban stronghold of Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on March 19. Photo: CNS/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters.   By Jessica Weinstein   KABUL, Afghanistan (...

Where Pills Can’t Reach: Checking Out a Local Miracle that paved the way for Newman canonisation. Deacon John Sullivan, 70, in a 2008 photo, says his healing from a debilitating spinal condition was due to the miraculous intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Photo: CNS. By Dwight G Duncan Exclsive interview   JOHN “Jack” Sullivan, ...

In what will almost certainly be taken as a blow by those who believe Mary is appearing at Medjugorje, Pope Benedict has laicised a controversial priest. Fr Vlasic with Medjugorje seer Marija, in the mid-1980s. By Anthony Barich Pope Benedict XVI has ordered that a former spiritual director to the ‘visionaries’ in Medjugorje be dismissed from the priesthood an...