Fr Hugh Allen, abbot of the Norbertines in Chelmsford, once told me that he had a devotion not to St John Vianney, the “Curé d’Ars”, but to the curé’s successor. The saint ate very little, spent most of his day hearing confessions, slept a few hours each night and prayed much. Imagine how the next Read more
A campaign has been launched for the canonisation of the priest who stayed on board the Titanic as it sank in order to pray with his fellow passengers. According to survivors’ testimonies, Fr Thomas Byles twice refused a place on a lifeboat. Rather, he stayed on the ship to pray with the passengers who were Read more
A German satirical magazine’s attempt to poke fun at Pope Benedict over the Vatileaks scandal has resulted in legal action — from the Pope himself. A law firm in the German city of Bonn was contracted to act for the Pope against Titanic magazine for front and back covers that, in the words of a Read more
Fr Thomas Byles, who grew up in Lancashire, was described by Pope Pius X as a ‘martyr for the Church’. This year, as the centenary is kept of the “unsinkable” liner’s collision with an iceberg in the Atlantic, and as we remember and pray for its 1,500 or more victims, there is another hero of Read more
Commemorations of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago will put the spotlight on a young Irish priest whose photographs are some of the only surviving images of life onboard the liner on its first and last voyage. Jesuit Father Frank Browne, 1880-1960, became a prominent documentary photographer and a much-decorated chaplain in the Read more