This Catholic News podcast looks at AI and Pope Francis' message for World Communications Day. Bishop John Arnold, Lead Bishop for Communications here at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, talks about how the technology can make information accessible and support the common good but we should make sure that it is carefully regulated. "Let's use machines to assist us in what we're doing to make our world a better place, to enhance the way we live. But let's not allow machines in any way to think for us or to make decisions which are not appropriate." Subscribe You can subscr ..read more

We keep our firm focus on the Holy Land and whilst we continue to weep as we look on at the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the suffering of all civilians caught up in this conflict, we're joined by Fr Fadi Diab to discuss the lived realities of the Palestinian people in the West Bank as well as in the decimated strip. Fr Diab is from Ramallah and is the rector of St Andrew's Episcopal Church and also minister at St Peter's Church in Bir Zeit. Subscribe You can subscribe to our Catholic News podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Amazon/Audible or Spotify ..read more

Bishop Declan Lang, Chair of our International Affairs department, recently joined former Middle East North Africa advisor to the Bishops' Conference, Dr Harry Hagopian, on a special podcast to discuss the tragic events playing out in the Holy Land as the conflict continues to rage in Gaza. Five long, painful months after the Hamas terror attack of 7 October and the subsequent bombing and ground offensive that has reduced Gaza to rubble and led to several thousand deaths and a humanitarian disaster of the most tragic proportions, this 'Middle East Analysis' special asks the question: Is there ..read more

The focus of this Catholic News podcast is the Year of Jubilee in 2025, and the preparation year proceeding it that we're currently living - the Year of Prayer. Pope Francis wants the Church to be prepared for the Jubilee Year with a particular focus on prayer, and what better prayer to use than the 'Our Father' that Jesus taught us. During Lent, we are offering a five-week course designed to help us deepen our understanding of the Lord's Prayer called We Dare To Say. Father Jan Nowotnik, Director of Mission for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales talks to us about how import ..read more

Deliver Us From Evil is a new booklet, published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS), offering Catholics a useful set of prayers and supplications, humble requests for the Lord's help, that can be used in times of fear, distress or temptation. The prayers are drawn from Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition and are intended for individual use to protect us from the forces of evil. In this Catholic News podcast, Father Robert Taylerson, a member of our Spirituality Committee and Spiritual Director at Oscott College, joins Liturgy Office Director Martin Foster for a conversation about the booklet ..read more

As the Church enters the season of Advent, on the first Sunday, 3 December, we also celebrate the International Day of Disabled Persons. It's an occasion that reminds us, should we need reminding, that the Church needs to be a place of belonging for people with disabilities. For this Catholic News podcast we're joined by Cristina Gangemi from the Kairos Forum, her friend Sean, a man who has never let disability get between his love of God and desire to serve the Church, and also Tracy, a lady who helps Sean and kindly assists at those times when Sean's words are hard to understand during this ..read more

Bishop Peter Brignall, the Bishop of Wrexham, has warmly welcomed the news that the Shrine of St Winefride in Holywell, north Wales, has been elevated to the status of a National Shrine for England and Wales. The shrine, on Bishop Peter's patch, has an unbroken 1,400-year tradition of pilgrimage and is part of the national heritage of Wales. The Bishops, at their Autumn 2023 Plenary meeting, approved its elevation giving it national status, and the move will likely bring more people to this remarkable place of pilgrimage, prayer, consolation, and hope. "Everyone is more than welcome, whether t ..read more

Canon Christopher Thomas, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales speaks about the Bishops' Autumn Plenary meeting held at Hinsley Hall in Leeds from 13-16 November 2023. He talks, in particular, about the resolutions from the meeting and is joined by Father Jan Nowotnik to discuss the longer resolution on the Synod that looks at "Steps Towards Renewal". On this podcast we address: Environmental concerns, the elevation of the Shrine of St Winefride, Holywell to the status of National Shrine for England and Wales. We also talk about the National Eucharistic Co ..read more

Dominican friar Fr Samuel Burke OP is a chaplain in the Royal Navy currently serving on HMS Duncan in the Mediterranean. He gave a poignant reflection on remembrance and honouring our war dead on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day. It was broadcast on 11 November, Armistice Day, known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth. "If, during the two minutes of silence, the enormous shadow of grief and the haunting prospect of future loss can't provoke each of us to rededicate ourselves to peace then, frankly, nothing will. "Whatever else you choose to think about during the still moments later today ..read more

November is a very important month in the Catholic calendar. It's the month when we pause on many occasions to remember our friends and loved ones who have died - the Holy Souls. We also remember those killed in the world's conflicts, especially on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. For this podcast, produced in partnership with the Centre for the Art of Dying Well, we head over to South Kensington in central London to speak to Father George Bowen, a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri. The community has a most beautiful church. Built between 1880 and 1884, the Churc ..read more