Crannóggy Island

  Introduction There is an old parlour trick, beloved of diplomats and theologians alike. Ask whether the soup is too salty and receive, at generous length, a meditation on hospitality. The taste of the soup remains untouched. Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe has elevated this into an art form. Ask him whether an act is licit, and he will tell you about friendship. He does not change the subject; he changes its register (from proposition to atmosphere) and trusts, correctly, that most of us will find the atmosphere so pleasant we forget we came in with a question. Two documents make the case better than I could argue it cold: a homily preached in June at a Mass for two men marking fifty years together, and an essay on the Synod written for L'Osservatore Romano, in which the same manoeuvre is performed at greater length and, rather touchingly, with footnotes. The Mass itself is worth a sentence or two, since two accounts posted on it could not agree on what kind of sentence to giv...

  Thank you. Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life. A new Labour government. The first in fourteen years. The chance to change this country for the better. That's what I came into politics for. Six years ago I inherited a party that was politically, financially, and morally bankrupt. I was told a majority was impossible. We proved them wrong. Unfortunately, having dragged the party back from the political graveyard, I discovered some colleagues had mistaken the victory party for the starting gun of the next leadership contest. Look at what we delivered. A stronger economy. Falling waiting lists. Rising wages. Every difficult decision was opposed by people who now explain, with remarkable confidence, that it was their idea all along. But I know the question being asked isn't who won the landslide. It's whether I'm the right person to lead us into the next one. Apparently the answer is no. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party...

The Wilderness Consultation In the second year after the exodus from Egypt, the Tent of Meeting stood at the centre of the camp of Israel. God spoke to Moses from within the tent. Moses carried what he received to the people. The arrangement was straightforward, if demanding. The Committee for Ongoing Discernment on Covenant Standards had established itself nearby. It had not been asked for. It had, nonetheless, arrived. Moses had been going in and out of the tent all morning. "He's been in there a long time," said the younger committee member, who was responsible for stakeholder engagement. "God is speaking to him," said the secretary. "Yes, but the Amorite delegation have been waiting since the third hour, and they've come a considerable distance." Moses emerged from the tent. He was carrying a scroll and wearing the expression of a man who had not slept well since Egypt. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," he said....

  Three theologians, a Protestant, a Catholic, and an Orthodox monk, met in a dream at the edge of a vast and empty plain. At the centre of the plain stood a single stone. It was ancient, weathered smooth by centuries of wind, and half-sunk into the earth. All three recognised at once that it was a foundation stone. None doubted that something had once been built there, nor that whatever might yet be built would have to begin from it. The Protestant approached first. He brushed the dust from the stone and struck it lightly with his hand, testing whether it would bear weight. "It is firm," he said. "That is enough. A house stands because it trusts the foundation beneath it. If the foundation holds, the builder need not fear." He rested part of his weight upon the stone, almost instinctively. "A perfect design built on mistrust collapses no less surely than a crooked wall." He spoke as though the greatest danger were not weakness in the foundation but despai...

  An emergency cabinet meeting at Number 10 reportedly lasted six hours after someone accidentally unplugged the only remaining opinion poll showing Keir Starmer was popular (in the Falkland Islands). Witnesses say the prime minister attempted to restore order, but was drowned out by Animal shouting ‘EVERTHING IS FINE!’ while Beaker presented a 97-slide PowerPoint entirely made of panic noises. Kermit has allegedly been tasked with explaining why everything is actually going according to plan. Meanwhile, Downing Street insiders insist morale remains high. Miss Piggy is understood to have demanded three resignations before breakfast, Fozzie Bear is handling media strategy (‘Wocka wocka, Burnham is no good!), and Gonzo is in charge of revising the government's policy priorities (benefits, benefits, benefits). Officials deny claims the government is now being run entirely by the Muppets, although one aide was heard to admit: "In fairness to the Muppets, they usually rehearse fir...

Introduction What a Christian makes of Mary reveals more about his theology than almost any other question he can be asked. This is not because Marian doctrine is central to the Gospel. Catholics do not claim it is. The disagreements about her turn out, on inspection, to be disagreements about almost everything else: the nature of Scripture, the authority of tradition, the scope of redemption, and the communion of the living and the dead. Indeed, Catholics themselves have not always presented Marian devotion well; exaggeration and romanticism can obscure what the doctrines are meant to protect. For many Protestants, Marian doctrines appear to have little biblical foundation and are an elaborate edifice built on human tradition rather than Scripture. For Catholics, these doctrines are grounded in Scripture, illuminated by apostolic tradition, and developed across centuries of theological reflection. Most Protestant challenges are not disputes about individual texts. More often, they a...