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Towards the conclusion of his landmark book After Virtue, the Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre observes that the death rattle of the Roman Empire began when men and women of good will “turned aside from the task of shoring up the Roman imperium” which had become socially decadent and culturally diseased.“What they set themselves to achieve instead – often not recognising fully what they were doing – was the construction of new forms of community within which the moral life could be sus...

Dr Dudley Plunkett FAITH Magazine November – December 2012Dr Dudley Plunkett brings out how the Church expects theology to done in the context of the virtue of faith. He gives some living examples which have borne fruit. One is reminded of an editorial of ours exactly 25 years ago, "The Theologian: Must he be a Saint?", reprinted in "Perspectives in Theology" (Family Publications), which is available from our subscriptions address or...

1. In preparation for the Year of Faith, all of the faithful are invited to read closely and meditate upon Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei.2. The Year of Faith "will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist". In the Eucharist, mystery of faith and source of the new evangelisation, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and...

Editorial FAITH Magazine September-October 2010"I came that they may have life." John 10:10It is now forty years since Fr Edward Holloway, the founder of Faith movement and the first editor of this magazine, published Catholicism: A New Synthesis. This book is the most comprehensive statement of his ideas and the theological vision that inspired Faith movement, although his thinking was also elaborated, sometimes more accessibly, in...

We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, built by Jesus Christ on that rock which is Peter. She is the Mystical Body of Christ; at the same time a visible society instituted with hierarchical organs, and a spiritual community; the Church on earth, the pilgrim People of God here below, and the Church filled with heavenly blessings; the germ and the first fruits of the Kingdom of God, through which the work and the sufferings of...

While the Church must always continue to develop its exposition of the Faith through theology and apologetics, it should by no means neglect the power of beauty to affect human thinking, feeling and judgement. Indeed, beauty can have its own power to bring people to faith from rational argument. As the Catechism puts it: “Truth can also find other complementary forms of human expression, above all when it is a matter of evoking what is...

Certain aspects concerning Lumen Fidei assert themselves even before one consults the text of the encyclical itself. First, the timing. It seems apparent that Lumen Fidei is intended as the guiding magisterial document for the “Year of Faith”, a celebration which outlasted the reign of the pope who convoked it in commemoration of the opening session of the Second...

George Cardinal Pell FAITH Magazine September-October 2010Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, responds to two questions we posed. He explains how the primacy of Christ is a crucial part of the Church's response to today's challenges and traces its implications for seminary formation.The primacy of Christ in creation was crucial to the aims of John XXIII and the Council fathers. One passage in particular of Gaudium et Spes...

World Youth Day arose from the “Extraordinary Holy Year” 1983-84. Many Catholic associations, fraternities, groups of Catholic Action and other pilgrims came to Rome for its celebration. They were impressive. So members of new spiritual movements got the idea to invite the youth of the world to meet with the Pope. It was Massimo Camisasca of the Italian community “Comunione e liberazione”, nowadays Bishop of Reggio Emilia, who made this suggestion to me. At that time, I gladly gave my consent...

Editorial FAITH Magazine May-June 2006Drawing Good Out of EvilPerhaps the best advice to young people who ask whether they should read The Da Vinci Code is that they would make better use of their valuable time by reading one of the excellent apologetic refutations of it (see our Recommended Reading list below). By that means they would learn some Church history, discover something about the formation of the canon of scripture, find out about...