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Teachers at a Catholic school have gone on strike over the cancellation of a talk by a children's author whose books feature gay characters. Governors of the John Fisher School in Purley, Croydon, in south London, voted not to cancel Simon James Green's visit, contrary to the Archdiocese of Southwark's recommendation. Two governors subsequently resigned and the archdiocese sacked the rest, according to an Ofsted report. Staff shortages have closed the school. Southwark archdiocese revealed on Thursday it had written to Ofsted asking it to review the report which it says had "inaccuracies" and contained "evidence appearing to be drawn...

The Lord’s Prayer Is Just Fine the Way It Is St. Benedict begins his Rule, “Hearken O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart.” This fundamental principle shapes not only the life of the monk, but of every Christian. Will we listen to the words of Christ, the Lord and teacher, and conform our life to them? What is the alternative? As shocking as it is, the words of Christ are constantly explained away.“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he...

Lines from the Lord's Prayer, in various languages. From the Eucharist Door at the Glory Facade of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. It's Lent in Rome. That means it's time for one of the great Roman traditions: station churches. Each morning, English-speaking pilgrims walk to a different church for Mass. This morning, on the way to St. Anastasia's, I was once again struck by a line in the Our Father: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” That's a hard thing to pray, It doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. Even the Catechism...

In the Gospel for today’s Mass the Lord gives us the most familiar prayer of all, the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is a prayer shared by and prized by all Christians. Few if any have not committed to memory. Yet hidden within the Lord’s prayer is a mysterious word that both Greek and Biblical scholars have little agreement over or even a clear understanding of in terms of its precise meaning. I call it “hidden” only because most Christians do not read Greek and are unaware of the difficulties and debate surrounding the word. They simply accept that the most common English translation...

In the breviary we are currently reading St Cyprian’s commentary on the Lord’s prayer. It is a prayer shared by and prized by all Christians. Few if any have not committed to memory.Yet within the Lord’s prayer is a mysterious word that both Greek and Biblical scholars have little agreement over or even a clear understanding of in terms of its precise meaning. Most Christians who do not read Greek are unaware of the difficulties and debate surrounding the word. They simply accept that the most common English translation of the Our Father is undisputed. To them the problem is...