Fr Paul McCourt is a priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle who has spent a quarter of a century serving as an army chaplain. In this reflection for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, he talks about our remembrance observance as “an annual salute to that innate human instinct to protect peace and all who live by it, to protect life in all of its ages against threat, and to live by principles so hard won in times past.”
In a video interview filmed a few weeks before his Installation on Saturday 29 November, Bishop Nicholas Hudson speaks to us about his new appointment as Bishop of Plymouth.
“I want to be a listening bishop, and I want to make a real priority of listening from the outset. I want to listen in a special way to the clergy, of course. But I also want to be able to listen to people from across the generations.”
The Most Reverend Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia, is calling on Catholics and people of goodwill living in Wales to write to their member of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, to oppose assisted suicide.
Members of the Senedd will be asked to decide whether Wales should give its consent to Westminster’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — a law that would legalise assisted suicide. This would be a profound change for Wales and would mean that, for the first time, doctors could be asked to assist a patient in ending their life intentionally.
Bishop John Arnold, Lead Bishop for the Environment for the Bishops’ Conference, has issued a statement on COP30 which will take place in Belém, Brazil, from 10-21 November 2025. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the United Nations’ annual meeting held to assess progress in dealing with climate change.
Ahead of the conference, Bishop Arnold calls for responsible leadership and for governments to make good on their environmental pledges. He encourages Catholics in England and Wales to make their voices heard and urge the UK government to take decisive action on the climate crisis.
Archbishop John Sherrington, the Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Bishops’ Conference, has issued a statement on the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently going through Committee Stage in the House of Lords. He urges peers to support the amendment to overturn clause 191 which would decriminalise abortion and threaten the life of unborn children, and calls for compassionate support and legal protection for pregnant women, mothers and their children.
The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has announced the launch of a new Office of Communications and Evangelisation, which will support the Church’s mission to share the Gospel and highlight the positive impact of Catholic life across Scotland.
The new office will manage and distribute official statements from the Catholic Church in Scotland, and will work closely with its dioceses, parishes, schools, religious communities, and lay groups to promote the spread of the Gospel. As well as developing relationships with secular media, a key part of its mission will be to strengthen digital evangelisation across Scotland.
On 4 November 2025, it was announced that, following prayer, reflection and engagement of members, the two congregations of apostolic women religious, Congregatio Jesu (CJ) and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM-Loreto) are merging.
The merged congregation will be known as Congregatio Jesu and is formed by approximately 1,800 sisters worldwide who will continue to honour the legacy and charism of its foundress Venerable Mary Ward.
On Saturday 1 November, Catholics celebrated the declaration of St John Henry Newman as the 38th Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV.
In addition to this historic honour, St John Henry Newman was also made co-patron of Catholic education, alongside St Thomas Aquinas, and on 3 November 2025, it was announced that Newman would be the new Patron Saint of the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.
In a pastoral letter read out in the churches of the Diocese of Shrewsbury last weekend, the Rt Rev. Mark Davies told the faithful that St John Henry Newman made his journey into the Catholic faith by allowing himself to be guided by love of the truth.
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed Saint John Henry Newman, the most recently canonised saint from England and Wales, the 38th Doctor of the Church during Mass on Saturday, 1 November.
We have a series of useful articles explaining what a ‘Doctor of the Church’ is and why Saint John Henry Newman’s teaching and wisdom not only resonated with his contemporaries, but still illuminates, instructs and inspires us today.
Newman ArticlesNewman Podcasts
In this episode of At the Foot of the Cross, Abbot Hugh Allan joins us again as we discuss the Gaza peace deal and the way forward for the Holy Land. Abbot Hugh also reflects on Pope Leo’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, and how we can best serve the poor, marginalised and vulnerable people in our communities.
The 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate was celebrated at the end of October and we look at how this foundational document is still of great importance today.
In this Catholic News podcast we are joined by Anton Asfar, Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem and Fr Elias Tabban, Parish Priest of Zababdeh Parish, near Jenin in the West Bank. We learn about the hopeful but also cautious mood on the ground among the people following the Gaza ceasefire agreement and the beginning of the first phase of the peace process in the Holy Land.
Members of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, will be asked to decide whether Wales should give its consent to Westminster’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — a law that would legalise assisted suicide. This would be a profound change for Wales and would mean that, for the first time, doctors could be asked to assist a patient in ending their life intentionally.
If enacted, this bill would put the most vulnerable in our society at risk of coercion. The conscientious objection clause for doctors is inadequate. Furthermore, parliament has explicitly rejected an amendment whereby care homes and hospices could opt out of facilitating assisted suicide on their premises and yet many care homes and hospices will want no involvement. Even with stricter rules, experience from other countries shows that once assisted suicide is introduced, the safeguards soon loosen and those who are elderly, disabled, or feel they are a burden begin to feel subtle pressure to choose death.
Write to a Member of the Senedd
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has passed through the House of Commons and is now with the House of Lords. Our clear principled objection to the Bill remains. The House of Lords has a responsibility to scrutinise the Bill in depth and reject it if necessary.
Unlike MPs, Members of the House of Lords do not have constituents, meaning there is not a Peer whose job it is to represent you based on the area of the country in which you live. For this reason you should take some time to think about which Peer you will write to and why, such as whether you have a personal or professional connection with them, or you have professional expertise in medicine or healthcare.
Please visit this link for full guidance to help you write to a Peer.
Stop the 'Up to Birth Clause (191)' in the Crime and Policing Bill that seeks to fundamentally change our laws on abortion. Please take action and make your voice heard. In June 2025, pro-abortion MPs, led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, hijacked the Crime and Policing Bill to rush through the abortion up to birth clause (191) after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The Antoniazzi clause would make it more likely that healthy babies are aborted at home for any reason, up to birth. The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth.
If this amendment becomes law, it would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women.
20 November
In July, the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales published Render unto Caesar. This was a major publication on taxation and Catholic social teaching, with contributions by experts in the field. This webinar is being held at an important time in the Government's fiscal timetable, with the UK's Autumn Budget statement due to be delivered on 26 November.
This online event will be chaired by Bishop Richard Moth and will bring together three of the document’s authors: Prof. Anna Rowlands, Ruth Kelly and Prof. Philip Booth. They will each present their thoughts on taxation and Catholic social teaching, and will then take questions from the audience.
Wednesday, 3 December – Friday, 5 December
St Mary’s University, Twickenham, in association with Caritas Social Action Network, is holding a special conference dedicated to exploring the ongoing relevance of Gaudium et Spes. On 7 December 1965, Vatican II promulgated the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World. It was the last and longest document to come from the Second Vatican Council. It remains central to the Church’s Magisterium and has guided so many aspects of the Church's life.
Catholic Christians must be committed to social justice and to the common good of humanity and our common home. This conference will consider the ongoing relevance of Gaudium et Spes, with specific reference to the Church’s commitment to Catholic education and social justice. Confirmed speakers include: Archbishop Malcolm MacMahon, Dr Gemma Simmonds, Dr Anna Abram, Monsignor Paul McPartlan, and Professor Stephen McKinney.
Friday, 21 November
Distinguished panellists will discuss the crisis in the Holy Land at a day conference on Friday 21 November at St Mary's University, Twickenham. Delegates can attend in-person or online.
Titled 'Weeping in Ramah - The Crisis in the Holy Land', the conference takes its theme from the prophetic lament from the Bible, Jeremiah 31:15, that describes Rachel weeping for her children who have been taken captive to Babylon.
Speakers include: The Most Revd John Wilson, Catholic Archbishop of Southwark; Professor Ian Linden, Visiting Professor at St Mary’s University, London, and former director of the Catholic Institute for International Relations; Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, an Irish lawyer specialising in human rights and international law; Father John Deehan, Scripture scholar and parish priest of Our Lady Help of Christians, Kentish Town; Sir Vincent Fean, trustee of the Britain Palestine Project and former Consul-General, Jerusalem.
Friday, 28 November (clergy), Saturday, 29 November 2025 (everyone)
Baptism is transformative, it is the gateway to Christ. The Diocese of Shrewsbury and the Baptism Collaborative, a national group of catechists and clergy interested in highlighting the importance and transformative power of baptism, are organising an event for northern-based clergy, catechists and all those interested in Reimagining Baptism.
You can join a national conversation about how baptism is understood in the life of the Catholic Church today – how to reawaken a baptismal mindset in our families and parishes and how might we spread the light of hope.
The keynote talk will be given by Abbot Hugh Allan O.Praem, Director of Mission for the Bishops’ Conference, and will feature workshops run by seasoned catechists and clergy from around the country.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, through its Biblical Apostolate, and Birmingham Newman University are conducting research into neurodiversity and our faith. If you're an adult neurodivergent Catholic or a caregiver of a neurodivergent Catholic, we want to hear from you. Your experiences will help us to become more aware of and responsive to your needs. Please complete our short surveys.
Join our team responsible for communicating the work and mission of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, you will contribute to planning, creation, and delivery of high-quality media and communications content across multiple platforms. The role requires someone able to help prioritise the primacy of storytelling for the mission and work of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales by harnessing the power of compelling content.
We are looking for a Mission Adviser to work with a dynamic and committed team working collaboratively with colleagues supporting the Bishops of England and Wales to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ passed to us through Holy Scripture and the magisterium of the Catholic Church.
St George's Roman Catholic Church