Damian Thompson

Self-regarding: the Rt Rev and Rt Hon R Chartres KCVO (Photo: Geoff Pugh)

From Saturday's Daily Telegraph

Writing in The Daily Telegraph this week, the Reverend George Pitcher told us that the St Paul’s Cathedral row displayed a fault line between the “dressing-up, ceremonial and remote” bit of the Church of England and its “progressive, reformist tradition”.

Oh, please. The main thing it revealed was the blinking befuddlement of every clergyman involved in the fiasco. The vicar from Dad’s Army cut a decisive figure in comparison.

I agree that the clerical infighting helped us identify various breeds of modern clergy. But don’t be distracted by superficial differences of costumes and rhetoric. High, Low, Broad, traditionalist, liberal – they’re all equally committed to a Liturgy of the Wringing of the Hands while the established Church falls off a… Read More

The English College, still in the grips of the Magic Circle

Like Jason in the Friday the 13th films, the Catholic establishment's Magic Circle refuses to die, despite the embarrassingly wide gap between its polyester fantasies and the Benedict-inspired devotion of younger Catholics. It's a cruel paradox that the English Church's leading seminary, the Venerable English College in Rome, treats Summorum Pontificum as a dead letter and shows only the faintest, most patronising interest in the Pope's other liturgical reforms. And now there's a rumour that its rector, the "go-ahead" Mgr Nicholas Hudson, is going to be made an English diocesan bishop, to be replaced by Mgr Andrew Summersgill, the Eccleston Square functionary who made such a hash of planning for the papal visit. Here's an email sent from a well-placed source… Read More

Dean Knowles: baffling decision (Photo: PA)

So the Dean of St Paul's, Graeme Knowles, has resigned because… actually, can anyone help me here? I don't see that the bungled closure and re-opening of the cathedral in the light of the Occupy London Stock Exchange stunt merited his departure. And, as I said on Saturday, Dr Giles Fraser's resignation was a bit odd, given that St Paul's opened almost as soon as he'd gone and no one thinks there's going to be blood on the streets, as he'd been hinting. Now Rowan Williams has come forward with a statement that clarifies absolutely nothing. I think – and this is only a guess – that this is all about a group of middle-aged clerics who can't bear the thought that they… Read More

Misery tourism can be fun (Photo: Reuters)

From Saturday's Daily Telegraph

Picture the scene. Residents of Tripoli cower in fear as gunmen spray bullets into the sky. Their AK-47s drown out the moans of a man who lies bleeding on the pavement. Next to him stands a youth in a T-shirt, jumping from one foot to another in a state of feverish excitement. He’s shouting at the man to keep still, and he’s pointing something in his face. But it’s not a gun. It’s an iPhone.

Meanwhile, 5,000 miles away, New York police have lost patience with Occupy Wall Street. Chanted slogans turn into girly shrieks as cops squirt Mace in protesters’ eyes and push them up against a barricade. The scene is witnessed by a young British woman – small, bustling, self-important – who taps angry tweet… Read More

The Anglican communion has a new saint

Anglican Lefties have a new martyr in their midst – ex-Canon Giles Fraser, who has resigned from St Paul's Cathedral in protest at the decision to close the building. Dr Fraser has become a hero to the tent-dwellers of Occupy London Stock Exchange (OSLX), whose cause he supports. Indeed, a Facebook page celebrating his heroic witness has already been set up.

This is a loss to the Church of England in more ways than one. For, according one church source, "Giles is so mortified at being pushed into the limelight that he intends to devote himself to a life of prayerful contemplation, far away from microphones, TV cameras and the attentions of the newspapers".

I must emphasise that my church source is not always reliable. Perhaps Dr Fraser will… Read More

Dark patches represent empty tents outside St Paul's

That was a very neat move by the Telegraph's TV team – using thermal imaging to determine how many of the tents pitched outside St Paul's were actually occupied. The answer: late last night, most of them were empty. No wonder the self-important "activists" turned nasty on our reporter.

And, talking of self-importance, if the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, has said anything of significance about the closure of his cathedral then I've missed it. But that's Dickie Chartres for you. Although he affects the manners of a High Victorian prelate, he rarely does or says anything that might offend his right-on clergy. As a result, he has allowed the adolescent wallies camped outside St Paul's – or pretending to camp, a… Read More

That, for me, was the killer line of the debate. It came early, and from a significant source – Mark Pritchard, Secretary of the 1922 Committee.
My parliamentary colleages have come under some pressure, and can I say now, they are not rebels; they are patriots. There is only one obsession on the backbench today, and that is to grow the economy, grow jobs and tackle the deficit left by the party opposite. The domestic politics of UK can no longer be disaggregated from the economics of the eurozone. We as a Parliament should listen to the people and be ahead of the curve rather than behind it. What better fresh start than a fresh vote?
What makes the statement so deadly is that it creates a narrative in which it is possible to compare "patriotic" backbenchers with Conservative ministers whose… Read More

'Blackmail is not a word I like to use. Let's just say...'

Why is the Prime Minister employing a three-line whip on a non-binding vote in the Commons whose consequences he could have easily have manipulated? This isn't brinkmanship: it's cold fury at the idea that some of his MPs will not do his bidding. Very Dave.

Many party leaders develop a hearty loathing of backbench rebels, usually in response to the sort of goading that John Major had to endure from his Eurosceptics. Cameron has endured no such humiliation. His determination to force a loyalty test on Right-wingers who are not notably disloyal arises from his personality. No PM in recent times has had such a low opinion of colleagues who are not part of his circle. Perhaps Mrs Thatcher entertained similar feelings, but her… Read More

The Synagogue of All Nations gives certificates of miraculous "cures"

From Saturday's Daily Telegraph

Earlier this week, a disturbing headline appeared in my Twitter feed. “Church HIV prayer cure claims 'cause three deaths’,” it read. There was a link to the BBC website, but even before I clicked through I knew I would find the word “Nigerian”.

According to a leading HIV doctor, three women have died after attending London churches that told them to stop taking antiretroviral drugs. The news story singled out the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), whose UK headquarters are in Southwark. Its website displays a photograph with the caption: “Mrs Badmus proudly displays her two different medical records confirming she is 100 per cent free from HIV-Aids following the prayer of Pastor T B Joshua.”

This being the politically correct Beeb, however,… Read More

St Paul's: wimpish (Photo: Getty)

Honestly, just read this hand-wringing verbiage from the Dean of St Paul's, explaining his decision to close a house of God because a group of attention-seeking bores have set up camp in front of it:
Last night, I met with members of the Chapter to discuss some of these key issues. As the week has gone on, and in a statement we issued earlier this week, we intimated how difficult the situation was becoming.

As a result of that meeting, and reports received today from our independent Health, Safety and Fire officers, I have written an open letter to the protestors this afternoon advising them that we have no lawful alternative but to close St Paul’s Cathedral until further notice. I have here copies of the letter clearly… Read More