Religion
Why the Bible still matters
If you look to our schools and universities, you will not see a serious engagement with the Bible as part…
How Putin weaponised the Russian Orthodox church
How Putin weaponised the Russian Orthodox church
Why the destruction of Ukraine’s churches matters
The destruction of Ukraine’s churches
Is the Virgin Mary being sidelined by Rome?
The Catholic church has always venerated Mary (‘Mother of God’) above other saints. But in recent years there has been…
Kirill, the Patriarch in league with Putin
The Patriarch in league with Putin
Dostovesky and Putin’s useful idiots
When I was 17 I heard the name Dostovesky, and was enthralled. Just the name felt so glamorously intellectual, so…
The churches must stay open
Hooray for Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who used the one day of the year when his pronouncements are amplified by the…
Our new era of Jewish-Muslim relations
Reactions to the recent passing of F.W. de Klerk transported me back to my childhood in South Africa. The horror…
How to cure what ails the NHS
Wrong cure Sir: In referring to the UK as the highest-spending European nation in healthcare proportionate to GDP (‘Hospital pass’,…
A brief history of the death of God
A few weeks after Friedrich Nietzsche bragged to an admirer that he had completed a ruthless attack on our Lord,…
Eddie Izzard is so bad I'm hoping he gets dismembered: Sky's The Lost Symbol reviewed
If it weren’t for this job I sometimes wonder whether I’d even bother watching TV at all. This mood strikes…
Profound and original and unashamedly religious: Midnight Mass reviewed
I was turned on to Midnight Mass by Ricky Gervais who raved about it in one of his social media…
The enduring power of Japan’s doomsday cults
The enduring power of Japan’s doomsday groups
God is everywhere, sometimes in strange guises, in Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads
Twenty years ago The Corrections alerted a troubled world to the talents of Jonathan Franzen. Though cruel and funny and…
The Church Closers’ Charter must be torn up
The demise of the Church’s heritage is not inevitable
My literary heroes have led me astray
Gstaad Good manners aside, what I miss nowadays is a new, intelligent, finely acted movie. Never have I seen…
The fight for the future of the Church of England
The fight for the future of the Church of England
The rise of the secular godparent
The rise of the secular godparent
What’s the harm in opening the church doors?
The end of summer 2021, the end of the great British staycation. I sat on the grass outside the post…
A podcast that listens to what anti-vaxxers think rather than lecturing them
Work is our new religion. There are people whose primary job is writing listicles of celebrity gossip, illustrated with gifs…
Is Boris Johnson allowed to pick the next Archbishop of Canterbury?
A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was shirty with me when I asked him whether he was now…
Pope Francis is losing his culture war
Since I wroteabout the Pope’s declaration of war on the Old Rite, something unexpected and beautiful has happened. Many bishops…
Leave, convert or perish: The fate of Afghanistan's minorities
President Biden’s decision to ‘end the war in Afghanistan’ means the complete withdrawal of 3,500 US troops by the 20th…
Is this the last chance to save the Church of England?
Is this the last chance to save the Church of England
The plot against religious education
Faith is not the declining force that some secularists believe or indeed desire it to be. Even here in the UK,…
