Catholic Unscripted Newsletter #8
Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow
✉️ Catholic Unscripted Newsletter #8
Dear friends,
First, an apology — last weekend Katherine and I were travelling back from a few days in France, so I didn’t get the chance to put the newsletter together. Thank you for your patience!
Secondly, some family news: this week Gavin decided to step back and focus more on his own writing. Although this wasn’t what Katherine and I had hoped for, we of course wish him well. We’re proud of what we’ve built together over the past years and hope the three of us will collaborate again in the future. For now, Catholic Unscripted continues with the same energy and commitment you’ve always known — and we’re grateful to have you with us.
Here’s what we’ve been working on:
🔥 The Fire Christ Came to Kindle
Mark reflects on Jesus’s unsettling words in Sunday’s Gospel and reveals their surprising connection with the English Martyrs.
👉 Read here
The Fire Christ Came to Kindle
When you enter the chapel of the Venerable English College in Rome, the first thing that draws your eye is the high altar. Above it hangs a canvas, darkened a little with age, painted in 1583 by Durante Alberti. At first glance it looks like many other Counter-Reformation altarpieces: Christ hangs upon the cross, flanked by saints, with angels holding scrolls. But then you notice something unusual. Beneath the crucified Lord is a painted map of the British Isles, and from the pierced body of Christ drops of blood fall downwards, landing on England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Wherever the blood touches, little flames burst forth. The whole nation is being set on fire. A child-angel holds up a scroll with words that seem both terrifying and thrilling:
🎶 Songs, Souls and Sacred Sound
Gavin meditates on music, transcendence, and how sacred sound lifts us into communion with God.
👉 Read here
Song, souls and sacred sound.
Fresh from mass in the parish church of St Bernadette, not very far from Mont St Michel, I have just been recovering from chasing notes around my brain during the singing of hymns at Mass.
👑 St Helen ~ Model of Femininity
Katherine explores the life of St Helen, mother of Constantine, and how her faith, humility, and perseverance remain an inspiring model for women today.
👉 Read here
St Helen ~ Model of Femininity
If you held a cat by it’s tail and swung it, you would hit a person writing or commenting on ‘the boy problem’. Online influencers (mostly male, on male dominated platforms) bemoaning the loss of true masculinity. Many books have been written about disaffected and disillusioned young men stuck in their bedrooms watching porn and paying video games. Boys attainment is lower than girls across the west, Catholic men’s groups have emerged. Smoking jackets, cigars and beards act as an ‘up yours’ to a culture that has tried to emasculate and feminise boys. So desperate are men for role models that Andrew Tate has gained traction. Catholic Men are taking cold showers and showing that you don’t have to be Muslim to live a disciplined life of sacrifice and virtue. Catholic Mens app Exodus 90 offers much needed support
💔 A Tale of Loss and Gain
Gavin reflects on the sad news of a Catholic priest converting to Anglicanism — and what could lead to such a mistaken path.
👉 Read here
A tale of loss and gain: why don't the Anglicans crow about Catholic converts? (& don't forget the money and sex)
Once upon a time, when I was discussing my intention to become a Catholic, an Anglican bishop I knew well, sniffed, with some practiced episcopal elegance and said
🕊️ From Confusion to Clarity
Mark reflects on how Pope Leo XIV is beginning to clear up the turbulence left in the Church by Pope Francis — with elegance and authority.
👉 Read here
From Confusion to Clarity: Pope Leo XIV Restores Christocentrism After the Pachamama Debacle
When Pope Francis presided over the Amazon Synod in 2019, the moment that came to define it was not his final exhortation Querida Amazonia, but the strange and troubling presence of Pachamama statues in the Vatican gardens and later in Roman churches. What was presented as an act of cultural respect came across to countless Catholics as an act of idolatry. The images were venerated, prayers were offered, and Francis himself called the figure “Pachamama.” For many, this seemed like an unambiguous validation of an idol, and the very best that could be said was that the whole episode was deeply unwise. Rather than opening dialogue, it confused and dismayed vast numbers of the faithful and damaged Catholic credibility in the eyes of other Christian communities who saw in it a confirmation of their worst suspicions about Rome’s susceptibility to syncretism. Francis was the Pope who moved the papal Corpus Christi procession out of Rome, but allowed idol worship in the Vatican.
🇫🇷 The City of Man and the Eldest Daughter
Fresh from a trip to France, Mark reflects on the philosophical roots of the modern secular state and how they are playing out in French society.
👉 Read here
The City of Man and the Eldest Daughter of the Church
I am fortunate enough to have grabbed a few days with Katherine and her family in France, and it is impossible not to see the national motto carved into stone and civic memory (as per the above picture I took in the small town where we are staying):
📖 Newman and Pope Leo XIV
Gavin considers St John Henry Newman’s thought and its likely influence on the new Pope.
👉 Read here
English papal patron saint to the rescue - St John Henry Newman backs Pope Leo 14th.
“It may be no accident that one of the first acts of this pontificate was the recognition of St John Henry Newman as doctor of the Church. His influence, his clarity, his rigour, his Catholicism and his prayers will come to the rescue of a deeply Catholic pope seeking the renewal of the Church and the transformation of the world.
🎥 Bread Not Stones
We shared a moving new documentary on how harsh restrictions against the Traditional Latin Mass have affected Catholics in North Carolina.
👉 Watch here
Bread, Not Stones
I’d like to draw your attention to a new short film that deserves to be widely seen. Bread, Not Stones tells the story of one faith community in the Diocese of Charlotte and the devastating consequences they have experienced since the promulgation of
💬 Weekly Live Chat
As always, we gathered on Tuesday for our live conversation, questions, and updates. You can catch up here:
👉 Watch here
26th August LIVE Conversation and Catch Up
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🌹 Praying the Rosary Together
We began praying the Rosary daily as a community — you’re warmly invited to join us.
👉 Pray with us
Praying the Rosary
Join us every day and pray the mysteries of the Rosary together for your intentions.
📘 Discovering the Catechism
Our series on the Catechism resumes, digging into the treasures of the faith paragraph by paragraph.
👉 Explore here
⛪ The Papal Reset Continues
Mark looks at the recent meeting between Cardinal Burke and Pope Francis, and how it signals deeper change under Pope Leo XIV.
👉 Read here
The Papal Reset Continues
On the morning of the 22nd August, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke walked once again into the Apostolic Palace and was received by Pope Leo XIV. That one line, dryly noted in the Vatican’s daily bulletin, is enough to signal a sea-change in Rome. For a decade Burke has been the symbol of resistance to certain trajectories under Pope Francis: Burke the sidelined canonist, one of the authors of
🔫 How Are the Minneapolis Shootings Linked to the AUSCP?
Mark interviews Michael Hichborn from the Lepanto Institute about troubling connections behind the recent tragedy.
👉 Watch here
⚖️ The Wrong Warrior: Why Mayah Sommers’ Story Matters
Katherine examines the troubling viral fame of a young Scottish girl and what it reveals about modern culture.
👉 Read here
The Wrong Warrior: Why Mayah Sommers isn't Our Joan of Arc
In 2008, a pupil I had been teaching, whose Religion book I still had sitting in my classroom, was murdered in South London. She was brutally attacked and sexually assaulted as she lay dead or dying, just moments from her front door. It is hard to contemplate such a thing. But girls do. Girls have to.
🤖 Is the Devil in the Digital?
Dr Sean Walsh offers a thoughtful meditation on what AI truly is — and how Pope Leo might approach it.
👉 Read here
Is the Devil in the Digital?
As Catholics we embrace the supernatural. Which is to say we reject naturalism – the claim that everything is explicable by the physical sciences. We accept that science, while true, is incomplete. Some things are mysterious, and this is good. We can’t know everything because we aren’t made to. God sometimes whispers to us in the idiom of mystery.
🇨🇦 Brian Holdsworth Interview
We had the pleasure of speaking with Canadian Catholic YouTuber Brian Holdsworth on why liberal progressivism fails.
👉 Watch here
Brian Holdsworth on why liberal progressivism is destroying society
Catholic podcaster Brian Holdsworth joins us to discuss his recent commentary on the state of Canada. For Brian's full commentary and to view his other excellent videos visit
🌍 Should We Give Up Our Dreams in Order to Survive?
Katherine reflects on the pressures of modern life and the temptations to compromise our deepest hopes.
👉 Read here
Should we give up our dreams, in order to escape our nightmares?
I was struck by a quote which flashed up on my screen the other day.
🙏 Thank you for reading, supporting, and praying with us. Catholic Unscripted is here to continue offering faithful, thoughtful Catholic reflection on the world around us.
Until next time,
Mark & Katherine
Thank you for your newsletter: Sad news about the loss of one third of your great work. You are showing: Best foot forward, full talented steam ahead: Prayers abound. God Bless 🙏🏻