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Calm fire: the consolation of listening to Bruckner
Here's an episode of Holy Smoke to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner later this year. This embarrassingly eccentric genius wa…
2 years, 1 month ago
The problem with cringe-making funerals
When did supposedly religious funerals turn into ‘celebrations of life’ that are more about entertaining the congregation than mourning the dead pers…
2 years, 2 months ago
How the Church of England patronises African Christians
In this episode of Holy Smoke, I'm joined by The Spectator's features editor William Moore, who asks in this week's issue of the magazine whether the…
2 years, 4 months ago
How much did Pope Francis know about Fr Marko Rupnik?
At a press conference in Rome last week, an ex-nun claiming to have suffered ritual sex abuse at the hands of Fr Marko Rupnik turned the heat on Pope…
2 years, 4 months ago
How liberal bishops are squeezing the life out of the Church of England
Can the Church of England escape from the deadly grip of bishops and bureaucrats who spend their entire time genuflecting to the metropolitan Left? W…
2 years, 5 months ago
Does Trump have evangelical Christians to thank for his second coming?
Donald Trump now seems certain to be the Republican presidential candidate in this year's US presidential elections. That's a prospect that horrifies…
2 years, 5 months ago
Gay blessings and theological porn: why leading cardinals are distancing themselves from Pope Francis
Just before Christmas, the Vatican's new doctrinal chief Cardinal Victor ‘Tucho’ Fernandez unveiled a new style of blessing designed to make gay coup…
2 years, 6 months ago
Raymond Arroyo on the joys of a Sinatra-style Christmas
In this festive episode of Holy Smoke, we're taken back to the Christmasses of the 1950s and 60s by Raymond Arroyo, Fox News and EWTN presenter, whos…
2 years, 6 months ago
The strange appeal of Integralism
You might imagine that a political project to place modern nation states under the supreme authority of the Catholic Church would stand zero chance o…
2 years, 7 months ago
How light filled the first Roman Churches: a conversation with Dr Elizabeth Lev
When I was in Rome last month, I watched the 'synod on synodality' fizzle out while the Marko Rupnik sex scandal took another sinister turn (and vari…
2 years, 8 months ago