Although David Lodge, who died on 1 January aged 89, will forever be regarded as a ‘campus novelist’, he was much more than that David Lodge rather admired Lionel Trilling’s notion of “pieties”, habits of mind and of behaviour that were retained even after the core or supporting belief was lost. “I suppose that in…
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In Defence of Faith
Leading Article in The Spectator Christmas Issue For what should we give thanks this Christmas? The faith that sustains millions through life’s challenges and inspires countless acts of compassion every day? The hope that our world may be redeemed by love? The charity that makes us think of the voiceless and the vulnerable who need…
Notre Dame Goes Back to Nature
From the Vineyard by N.O' Phile, The Tablet's Wine Writer Amid the pomp, pride and palpable emotion of last week’s reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, an unremarked but far from insignificant vignette about the event has come The Tablet’s way. At the first Mass, celebrated fittingly on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by the Archbishop…
Rubicon -The Times View on the Assisted Dying vote
In a momentous decision, MPs have voted in favour of assisted suicide Friday 29 November 2024 It could be years before the first dose of poison is taken by a patient deemed terminally ill, but following the decision by a majority of MPs to vote in favour of assisted suicide on Friday something in Britain…
Statement from the Catholic Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland opposing proposed legislation for assisted suicide.
Be Compassionate As Catholic Bishops in England and Wales, and in Scotland, we believe that genuine compassion is under threat because of the attempts in Parliament to legalise assisted suicide. ‘Compassion’ means to enter into and share the suffering of another person. It means never giving up on anyone or abandoning them. It means loving…
BEING A PRISON VISITOR
How does a church organist and retired botanist/marine biologist come to end up volunteering in a reception prison? If I had had a bucket list of things to do following my retirement from university (which I didn't) this would not have featured on it - and yet it turns out to be one of the…
Wine snobs now welcome
'From the Vineyard' column by N. O’Phile in THE TABLET, 15 August2024 Bag in a Box wine may not yet have come of age, but it is certainly on its way to maturity. When ten years ago this column surveyed the supermarket scene, there was little to recommend boxed wine beyond convenience. The problem was that…
Netanyahu’s delusions
From the Editor of The Tablet, 1 August 2024 Where would Israel be without the support of the United States? It would promptly have to look for a peaceful resolution of the long-standing conflict with Arab Palestinians. It could no longer afford its armed forces at their present size, and it would have to find…
Shining a light on war and working for peace
by Joanna Moorhead in THE TABLET, 27 July 2024 John Lavery is one of Ireland’s finest painters - and he played a role in the negotiations over its independence. As an exhibition of his work opens in Edinburgh, Joanna Moorhead considers his life and legacy. Aged three, John Lavery was an orphan in Belfast; by the…
Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until 7 September
by Laura Gascoigne in The Spectator, 13 July 2024 On the back of the British £20 note, J.M.W. Turner appears against the backdrop of his most iconic image. Voted the country’s favourite painting in 2005, ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ (1838) was Turner’s favourite too. It remained in his possession until his death; the 70-year-old artist swore…
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