Recently, a friend said she was ashamed by the great value of many of the artefacts and treasures in the Vatican Museum and in churches around the world. She said if the Church is the Church of the poor, it should sell these items and help the poor.

Tragedy and a sense of being unloved in early life gave way to God’s loving presence, Br Gilbert Bloomer tells Debbie Warrier.

The Record’s Mark Reidy spent time on the Tiwi Islands, 80km north of Darwin in December. There, he discovered the legacy of one courageous priest who, over 100 years ago, saved many, many girls from a cruel fate.

Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day was shaped by the turbulence of her early life, reports Chaz Muth. The irony is that, although her country’s bishops have officially supported her cause for canonisation, if she were alive she would probably be the first to protest the decision.

In my parish there are a number of lay people who take Communion to the sick, but occasionally I see them take the hosts and then chat with people after Mass before going to the home of the sick. Is this proper? How should Communion be taken to the sick?

There are signs of Christmas’ lapse into just another theme for shopping at a certain time of the year but we should not despair, writes Noel Bourke.

Largely ignored by professional theologians, CS Lewis’ exploration of faith inspires new generations.

Every year, a bevy of brave, hardened anti-theist journalists complain about Christmas. Greg Craven is sick of their whingeing. This is a great time of year for hack columnists. The opinion editor is hung over. The chief of staff is AWOL. The editor is still trapped in that leather Santa suit. Now is the time to rage over a personal grievance so self-indulgent and intemperate that eve...

Click here for related story.

Mgr Ganswein, one of the most powerful figures in the Church, looks on with Pope Benedict XVI during a meeting in Zagreb in 2011. Photo: Allesandro Bianchi, Reuters By Catholic News Service Pope Benedict XVI will ordain his longtime secretary an Archbishop, 6 January, on the feast of the Epiphany. The pope named his closest aide to be prefect of the papal household, a job that inv...