The Wise and the Wherefores
By The Tablet
The Wise and the WhereforesMay 20, 2022
Why oh why, Aquinas
Following on from Plato and Socrates, in the second in our series on why truth still matters, Fr Alban McCoy, OFM Conv, and Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, discuss St Thomas Aquinas, 750 years after his death.
Does truth still matter?
Journalist Ruth Gledhill is in conversation with Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian Fr Alban McCoy OFM Conv in the first in a new series of podcasts.
The Tablet Book Club – ‘A Faithful Spy’ with author Jimmy Burns and broadcaster Emily Buchanan
Award-winning writer and former Financial Times journalist Jimmy Burns’ latest book A Faithful Spy, based on previously undisclosed personal private papers of former MI6 and MI5 officer, Walter Bell, gives a remarkable insight into the working of British Intelligence. In this Tablet podcast, Emily Buchanan of the BBC talks to Jimmy Burns about the book and some of the startling things that he uncovered during his research.
In this article in The Tablet Jimmy Burns gives further insight into the life of Walter Bell.
The Church’s radical reform – After the Vatican synod, what happens now?
The 2023 synod summit in the Vatican ended with a series of openings for reform, including on the role of women, training of priests and a re-think of the church’s sexual teaching.
For those in the hall, a vast majority agreed that the synod process and style — which saw cardinals and lay people gathered around tables listening to each other — is how church business should be done in the future.
But what happens next? Synod 2023 is the first of two assemblies, with another due in October 2024.
In this episode, I talk again to Myriam Wijlens, who took part in the synod as an expert adviser. Professor Wijlens, a theologian and canon lawyer who has been closely involved in the synod process, stressed a general agreement that women need an enlarged role in the church but a “struggle” over how this should happen in practice. The question of women deacons is to be further studied, and Wijlens said a “conclusion” to the discussion over the possibility of women deacons could take place at the synod next year.
Professor Wijlens teaches at the University of Erfurt in Germany. She said that the new synod process marks a “tremendous shift”, which gave everyone the same amount of time to speak, whether they were an Asian woman or a European cardinal.
“There was a general agreement: we have to attend to this question [of women]”, she said. “And there was a great agreement that women do make up the larger portion of active participants in the life of the Church. And then there comes a struggle because we all come from different cultures and from different backgrounds. How does that unfold in real life, on the ground?”
Professor Wijlens points out that a critical challenge is implementing synodality at the local level. But it can no longer be a question of waiting for the authorities in Rome about what to do.
“How can Rome say what you have to do in the inner city of London and in the inner city of Manila or the countryside of Alaska at the same time,” she said. It is up to bishops and local leaders to “take up your own responsibility” and implement synodal reforms in their local areas.
The Church’s Radical Reform podcast is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham in partnership with The Tablet.
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
A ‘Family Matters’ webinar with Brendan Walsh, Editor of The Tablet
In October 2023 we began a series of articles on Family Matters, the first of which was by our very own Editor, Brendan Walsh. Brendan wrote movingly and candidly about his experience of first-time fatherhood in his early 60s. Other articles followed covering themes of adoption, welcoming strangers into your family, the death of a child, being a mother with cancer, an unconventional upbringing, and grandfathers. Three online webinars accompany this series, the first of which was on 8 November with Brendan Walsh and Carina Murphy, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago when her children were five and nine years old. This is the conversation between Brendan, Carina and Tablet readers, introduced by deputy editor Maggie Fergusson.
Openness to the Spirit vs Structuring the Synod – Is it possible to have both?
In this podcast, from a Tablet webinar on the Synod on Synodality, Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor, The Tablet – talks to Professor Renee Kohler-Ryan, National Head of the School of Philosophy and Theology and Rev Professor Eamonn Conway, Professor of Integral Human Development, both of the University of Notre Dame Australia.
This was one of a Tablet series of webinars on Synodality, in partnership with the University of Notre Dame, Australia.
To sign up for future Tablet events, go here.
Tablet podcasts are available on all the usual podcast apps such as Apple, or can be listened to via our dedicated page on our own website.
A conversation with Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, ‘spiritual father’ of the synod
The reflections of Fr Timothy Radcliffe have been one of the highlights of the October 2023 synod assembly in the Vatican. The English Dominican friar led the synod participants on a retreat before the synod gathering and offered wise reflections and spiritual guidance. Some have called him the “spiritual father” of the synod.
In this episode, I sat down with Fr Timothy to discuss the synod process and how to navigate disagreement in an increasingly polarised world and church. Fr Timothy led the worldwide Dominican Order from 1992-2001, the first English friar to do so. He knows the universal Church and the workings of the Vatican and has attended several synods.
“I think to see Roman Curial cardinals sitting with young women from Latin America and Asia and listening, really listening. I think that’s what is most transformative,” he told me.
The process of listening, he says, is the “foundation for any subsequent things to happen” and that both individuals and the Church collectively need to be “changed” before they know which changes need to be made. On one occasion in the synod, he referred to a story that had been told to participants about a bisexual woman who had taken her own life as she did not feel welcomed by the Church.
“The question always put is: is the Church’s teaching going to change? That’s not the issue. The issue is, will we love and welcome our fellow human beings?” he says. “If we love them, and listen to them and make them part of our lives, if there are evolutions to happen, they will happen. But you don’t start by asking what changes have to be made.”
He stressed that the synod is counter-cultural because it demands people listen to those with whom they disagree.
“We inherit a tradition, Catholicism, which does actually believe in reason,” he pointed out.
“We see a lot of irrationality in our society because people don’t believe in reason anymore, but the Church does, and this should act in a healthy way to open not just our hearts but our minds, so we listen attentively with all our intelligence to what the other person is saying, and try to see how even if we disagree it bears some tiny seed of truth that we need. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t turn out, when we look back, that one of the great roles of the Church will be to carry on believing in reason.”
Talking about indifference or scepticism of the synod among the clergy, Fr Timothy said there needs to be a “positive, affirmative vision of the priesthood” to ensure more priests get on board with the synod process. Finally, he talked about his recent health struggles and how Pope Francis took him by surprise and phoned him while he was in hospital.
The Church’s Radical Reform podcast is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham in partnership with The Tablet.
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
The Catholic Church and how it got to where it is today
In Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World, Dr. Ambrogio A. Caiani tells the story of the Catholic Church in the modern age. Beginning with the aftermath of the French Revolution and the democratic rebellions of 1848, Caiani follows the Church's evolution that sees three popes being forced out of Rome, the secular power of papacy being destroyed, a disastrous series of concordats with fascist states in the 1930s and the Church’s retreat into a fortress of unreason.
As Catholicism lost its temporal power it made huge spiritual strides expanding across the globe and gaining new converts in America, Africa and the Far East; losing a kingdom but gaining the world, he writes.
In this Tablet podcast, assistant editor Ruth Gledhill talks to the author about why he wrote the book, some of his discoveries and their implications, and what he hopes to do next.
Ambrogio A. Caiani grew up in Ireland and spent his summers in Italy and France. Since his early childhood he has had a passion for history, politics, and religion. He was educated at the Universities of York and Caiani received his doctorate from Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge in 2009. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Kent.
He is the author of two previous books: To Kidnap a Pope, Napoleon and Pius VII 1800-1815, which won the Franco-British Society Book Prize 2021, and Louis XVI and the French Revolution 1789-1792.
How does the new synod process work? An interview with Austen Ivereigh
The October 2023 synod assembly in the Vatican is adopting a very different process to the one used by previous gatherings, which is demonstrated by the arrangement of round tables in the Pope Paul VI audience hall.
The sight of bishops and cardinals seated around tables with lay delegates is deliberate and designed to foster what Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the synod co-ordinator, described as “genuine sharing and authentic discernment”.
Significantly, the seating is not “hierarchical”, symbolising the vision of the Church as primarily the “People of God”, which is at the heart of the synod process.
So, how does it all work? Austen Ivereigh, the journalist and papal biographer, is one of the expert theologians working inside the hall and in this episode he talks about the nuts and bolts of the process. We spoke as the synod was getting underway.
Previous synods, he explained, took place in a theatre-style assembly where some of the work was done in small groups of 10-12 people. The participants were primarily bishops, and they sat according to hierarchal rank.
The “big shift”, Dr Ivereigh says, is that most of the work for this synod is being done in small groups in a method called “conversations in the spirit”, which he pointed out is not about having a small-group debate but instead listening and responding to points that are raised.
Each group gathered around a table seeks to respond to questions raised by the working document for the synod with the end goal of producing a document that brings together all the reflections. The new process adopted by the Vatican synod assembly also reflects the methods adopted by local synod gatherings that have taken place during the process, which began in October 2021.
Dr Ivereigh points out that everyone can speak within their small group and to the whole assembly; they can also submit written submissions on any given topic to the synod secretariat.
“The object of this whole exercise is synodality itself,” he says. “It’s a new way of proceeding, of operating, of thinking within the Church which centres on communion, participation and mission, that is to say the involvement of people in processes of discernment prior to decision taking in the Church.”
While the synod is likely to raise major points of disagreement, Dr Ivereigh points out that the synod aims to find a way to “contain those tensions” rather than fall into “sterile polarisations” and to find harmony or “reconciled diversity” between people with different positions.
The “synthesis document” produced by the October synod assembly, he said, will aim to “capture the result of these deliberations”, and then the whole Church will be asked to reflect on that text ahead of the October 2024 synod.
“It [the synthesis document] may say, ‘these are the questions that need answering’, ‘these are the things that need further exploration’, ‘here there is great agreement, or here there is great disagreement’, it's literally capturing what’s happened,” Dr Ivereigh explains.
He added that there will likely be “various commissions set up to study the proposals”, including “canonical commissions, theological commissions, pastoral commissions,” following the synod assembly's conclusion.
Dr Ivereigh said that while the synod assembly will be aware of opposition to the process, it was unlikely to affect the internal proceedings.
The Church’s Radical Reform podcast is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham in partnership with The Tablet.
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
Promoting racial and cultural inclusion in the Catholic Church
Canon Victor Darlington, Episcopal Vicar for the South East in the Archdiocese of Southwark, talks to Ruth Gledhill of The Tablet about racial justice in Southwark and the wider church. It comes on the eve of the Synod in Rome and as Canon Victor and the archdiocese prepares for a seminar on 28 October on promoting racial and cultural inclusion in schools and communities.
Canon Darlington leads the Commissions for Promoting Racial Justice and Cultural Inclusion, Education and Caritas, Archdiocese of Southwark. The archdiocese covers some of the most racially diverse areas of the UK. In this podcast, Canon Darlington talks about some of the challenges involved, what the priorities are and his hopes for the future.
The Catholic Church’s radical reform – the new prior of Taizé talks synod
The synod process has the potential to bring about greater unity among Christians, the incoming leader of Taizé has said ahead of Saturday’s ecumenical prayer vigil before the synod meeting begins in Rome.
Brother Matthew (Andrew Thorpe) is the first Anglican to be appointed Prior of the Ecumenical Christian monastic fraternity in France, which has been organising a prayer vigil in St Peter’s Square on 30 September. This event will be the starting point for the synod and a three-day retreat, which participants will participate in before the synod’s formal opening on 4 October.
Talking to “The Church’s Radical Reform” podcast, hosted by The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb, Br Matthew spoke about how “synodality and ecumenism go hand in hand” and that while Christians have got used to walking on “parallel paths”, he hopes that the synod will find “creative ways” to bring different Christian traditions closer together.
“If the Catholic Church [through the synod] can recognise and cherish the diversity that is already within itself, is there a hope as well for a greater communion with Christians who are at this moment not part of the Roman Catholic Church? Can their diversity also be welcomed?” he said.
Br Matthew, 58, explained that the 30 September gathering, “Together”, was the initiative of the current prior, Brother Alois, who conceived the idea at the launch of the synod process in October 2021. The event will be attended by young people and the leaders of 20 different churches and Christian traditions, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“It’s true that when you speak about a synod on synodality, it’s not very easy for many people, especially young people, to understand what that’s about,” he said. “That is one of the reasons we called this ecumenical prayer vigil ‘together,’ because that’s a word which is easily understandable and which also expresses something of what the synod is.”
The new prior, who will take up his position on 3 December 2023, explains the history of Taizè and his journey to joining the community at the age of 21, having grown up in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
Br Matthew has been involved in the synod process, taking part in the European assembly in Prague earlier this year and the importance of “conversations in the Spirit”, which is the method of listening and consensus building that the synod assembly will use in the Vatican from 4-29 October.
“It wasn’t arguing with each other or trying to put across your point of view, but it was listening to the Spirit, and listening to each other, in order to find a common path,” he says. “That is something that which can also help us on our ecumenical journey towards unity.”
Br Matthew said that at a time of “uncertainty, we look for clear identity”, with young people coming to Taizé sometimes attached to “traditional forms of worship,” movements associated with the climate crisis or tackling poverty.
“It's a question of listening to what they are experiencing and giving them a place,” he said.
But he also insisted that the Church cannot stand still, and the synod underlines that “the tradition is something constantly evolving, it’s not something locked up in a box somewhere.” Rather than “museum keepers,” he said, Christians should see themselves as “cultivators of a beautiful garden.
For more details about the prayer vigil: www.together23.net
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
Serving Cafod on the front line – Tony Sheen on the art of volunteering
In this Tablet podcast, assistant editor Ruth Gledhill talks to Tony Sheen, who has been well-known through the London Catholic community and beyond as the Westminster diocesan coordinator for the Catholic international development charity Cafod. He retired last week after 17 years of hard and committed work.
Tony’s energy and enthusiasm for tackling injustice and raising the plight of people all around the world has been infectious. He has built an extensive bank of volunteers across Westminster. In this episode, he talks about how he became involved with Cafod as a volunteer, how this progressed to becoming staff with the charity, the work of Cafod itself and why it matters so much today.
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon talks to Christopher Lamb
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP on overhauling church governance, the problems in Hexham and Newcastle and how the synod can bring about a ‘revolution’.
The Church’s Radical Reform podcast series is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham in partnership with The Tablet.
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
The Catholic priest known as ‘Tucho’ who is the new man in charge of the ‘Holy Office’ in Rome
Ruth Gledhill and Christopher Lamb discuss the appointment of Argentinian Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and what this means for the synodal and other reforms of Pope Francis. Read more about Christopher’s chat with the Archbishop in The Tablet.
Martyr in the cathedral – St Thomas Becket at Northampton
In the mid-nineteenth century, a relic of the Bishop and Martyr, Saint Thomas Becket, a piece of his skull, was given to Northampton Cathedral by Monsignor George Talbot, a secretary to Pope Pius IX. He had received the relic from the bishop of Veroli, Bishop Mariano Venturi. In a letter written in period Italian, from Bishop Venturi to Mgr Talbot in 1852, Venturi says it is is a relic of the ‘glorious bishop and martyr Thomas Becket’. It also mentions the ‘cranium’ that the relic resembles, therefore leading to beliefs that this is part of the skull of St Thomas Becket. Veroli is in the Provence of Lazio, Italy and today is the diocese of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino.
This weekend, the Becket Festival is being celebrated in Northampton. The Papal Nuncio to Great Britain, Miguel Maury Buendia, is making a pastoral visit to the diocese. St Thomas Becket’s feast day is at the end of the year, however the festival is being held in the summer in order to coincide with the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of Thomas Becket on 7 July. This year it will also include the blessing of the St Thomas Centre, Northampton’s new diocesan centre.
The festival will conclude with the Becket Lecture in the St Thomas Centre. Dr Judith Champ will deliver the lecture titled, ‘The complicated saint: Thomas Becket and English Catholics’.
The Translation of the Relics of Thomas Becket refers to 7 July 1220, when due to both popular demand from pilgrims wishing to access the burial site of the Martyr and also a fire, the relics of Saint Thomas were moved to a more appropriate shrine in the main body of Canterbury Cathedral, where they were at the time.
So why Northampton? And how?
In this latest Tablet podcast, Fr Andrew Coy, private secretary to Bishop of Northampton David Oakley, is in conversation with Tablet assistant editor Ruth Gledhill in a bid to unravel the ‘martyr mystery’ of St Thomas Becket, his terrible murder at Canterbury and how he and his relics came to be associated with Northampton.
Reform from the grassroots upwards: an interview with Myriam Wijlens
Professor Myriam Wijlens is a theologian and church lawyer who is playing a pivotal role in advising the global synod process. She understands church reform: how it happens, what is possible, and what isn’t possible and was one of the first women called to be involved in the synod organising committee.
In this episode, she takes me through what has happened in the synod so far, including the groundbreaking reforms Pope Francis made to allow women to vote in the forthcoming October assembly. Myriam, a Dutch theologian who teaches in Germany, explains that this change did not come about in a vacuum but is a natural next step given the involvement of women in the synod so far.
The significant shifts in the synod, she says, are taking place in the way the church is making decisions and in reforms to its internal culture, moving away from a top-down model, to a bottom-up approach. A novelty of the synod, Myriam stressed, is that it started at the grassroots, of “where people live their faith.”
During our discussions, she also addressed the questions of the German synod and the possibility of female deacons but emphasised that reforms had to take place in a gradual, step-by-step manner.
“A change is coming about, and it’s a change in mentality,” she says. “Did anyone expect in October 2021 that 18 months later that women could vote in the next synod? It’s quite something.”
Finally, addressing some of the fears and scepticism about the synod, particularly from those in the hierarchy, Myriam stressed that the “bishops who have stepped into the process, and walked with the people, now feel that this has been an enrichment for the way they exercise their episcopal ministry.” She offers some great insights throughout our discussion.
This podcast series is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.
Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
Come with The Tablet on our trip to Turkey, taking in the Seven Churches of Revelation, Cappadocia and more
In this Tablet podcast, assistant editor Ruth Gledhill talks to Dr Natalie Watson, theologian and editor, about the coming Tablet trip to Turkey, where classical civilisation can be found alongside the sites of the earliest Christian churches along with the locations of some of the earliest and most significant events of the early Church.
We start with three nights in Istanbul, one of the world’s greatest cities, visting sites such as the grand Byzantine basilica Aya Sofya, often called Hagia Sophia, and the Ottoman sultans’ lavish Topkapı Palace. We take a guided stroll in the Grand Bazaar and have a traditional coffee tasting and ponder the spiritual adventure ahead, and enjoy the views from our Bosphorus cruise.
We then travel through the countryside visiting the sites of the Seven Churches of Revelation. These churches were real, physical congregations when the Apostle John wrote this last book of the Bible around 95 AD. While in Patmos, John was seized by the Holy Spirit and received prophetic visions from Christ instructing him to: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea”
We will also visit the bright-white terraces of Pamukkale, the warm mineral water that flows through them being the basis for the ancient spa city of Hierapolis. Then, we finish with three nights in Cappadocia, a geological wonderland in the centre of Turkey. The history of early Christians in Anatolia comes alive at the Göreme Open-Air Museum and the other cave churches and underground cities scattered around the valley.
For more information on The Tablet trip to Turkey in September, visit McCabe Pilgrimages or email info@mccabe-travel.co.uk quoting TabTurk2.
For more information on The Tablet trip to the Holy Land and Jordan in November, email enquiries@jcjourneys.com.
The Tablet in conjunction with Sarum College – What does Francis of Assisi have to say to theology today?
Our panel here is hosted by Ruth Gledhill, The Tablet’s Assistant Editor, and consists of Dr Michael Hahn and Dr Eleanor McLaughlin who run the MA programmes in Christian Spirituality and in Theology, Imagination and Culture, respectively, at Sarum College in Salisbury. Michael is a medieval theological historian working on the early Franciscan mystical traditions, and Eleanor is a theologian working on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and disability theology.
In this webinar, the speakers examine the works of St Francis of Assisi and establish how useful they are in conversations about the Church, theology and faith today.
Dr Michael Hahn explores Francis in his own time and introduce themes of disability, ecology and art in the early Franciscan tradition
Dr Eleanor McLaughlin discusses how Francis’s writing on these themes fit into modern theological studies of these topics.
The World Bank, farmers and poverty – why experts at Cafod are so concerned
Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Dr Ruth Segal and Dario Kenner of Cafod about the recent report, Sowing the seeds of poverty: how the World Bank harms poor farmers.
The report accuses the World Bank of promoting agricultural models that benefit large-scale agribusiness at the expense of poor farmers, arguing that id demands “regulations and laws that support the expansion of commercial markets for hybrid seeds and chemical inputs”, forcing poorer nations to purchase seeds and fertilisers from global corporations.
Dr Segal is Cafod’s food systems lead analyst. She has worked on food and agriculture issues, both in the UK and internationally, for more than 25 years and is an expert on global food systems and seed systems.
Mr Kenner is lead analyst for sustainable economic development at Cafod. He is an expert on the World Bank and debt within the Global South. He has published numerous research papers on the subject and regularly gives evidence at parliamentary select committees.
A news story about the report published in The Tablet can be read here.
Mary’s Meals and the feeding of the 2.5 million
Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder of international school feeding charity Mary’s Meals. Mary’s Meals grew out of a charity called Scottish International Relief, which was set up after Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow and his brother Fergus took aid from their home in Argyll to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992, during the conflict. The global Mary’s Meals campaign was born in 2002 when Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Malawi during a famine and met a mother dying from AIDS. When he asked her eldest son, Edward, what his dreams were in life, he replied simply: “To have enough food to eat and to be able to go to school one day.” Mary’s Meals feeds 2,429,182 children every day at school in 18 countries, across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Listen now to find out what happened to Edward, how thousands of children and communities are being helped and more about the incredible story behind the foundation and ongoing success of Mary’s Meals.
For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission – where are the synodal discussions leading the Catholic Church?
A three-year ‘synodal’ process is taking place in the Catholic Church that culminates in two Synodal gatherings in Rome in October 2023 and a year later in 2024. The overall theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission”. Christopher Lamb hosts this live webinar where he reflects on where the synodal discussions are leading the Catholic Church with guests Dr Elissa Roper, a theologian specialising in synodality in the Catholic Church based on Australia; Vimal Tirimanna CSsR, Professor of Moral Theology at the National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka, Kandy, Sri Lanka and the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy, Rome and Christina Kheng, A lay person from Singapore, who teaches pastoral leadership at the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila. She was called by the pope to be part of the Commission on Methodology that is accompanying the Synod’s work.
The Church's Radical Reform – Leadership in Uncertain Times
Leadership in uncertain times
Credible leadership is a critical feature of the synodal journey with Catholics across the globe calling for lay women and men to be more involved in decision-making. The synod is pointing to a renewed model, away from the top-down, command and-control style of the past to one which includes diverse voices and charisms in forging the future mission of the Church.
In this episode, Christopher Lamb talks to Lord McDonald, who was in charge of the British Diplomatic Service from 2015-2022, about his new book Leadership: Lessons from a Life in Diplomacy. Lord McDonald looks at what makes for a successful leader today and how to navigate the unprecedented scrutiny and pressures experienced by those in senior roles.
Pope Francis has emphasised that the synod listening process must “pass beyond the 3 or 4 per cent that are closest to us” and “broaden” its range. The interview with Lord McDonald took place in that spirit, with the former ambassador talking about how he grew up as a Catholic, although he is no longer an active member of the Church.
Nevertheless, he offers some fascinating insights into the reform process that Francis has begun, reflecting on the complexities of reforming a historic institution and his experiences in seeking a fairer representation of women in the Foreign Office. When it comes to leading, however, some things remain the same. Lord McDondald points out that good leaders have the courage to make bold decisions, stay humble, operate with a clear authority structure and have a strong team around them.
This podcast series is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.
Executive Producer: Silvia Sacco
Editor: Jamie Weston
A Tablet Webinar: Choosing which life to save – allocating healthcare resources in a pandemic.
How can we decide a fair allocation of healthcare resources during a pandemic?
Hosted by Dr Sarah Walsh of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, this event features contributions from Dr David Kirchhoffer, Director of the Queensland Bioethics Centre at Australian Catholic University; Dr Bernadette Tobin, Acting Director of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, and Reader in Philosophy at Australian Catholic University and Prof. David Albert Jones MA (Cantab) MA MSt DPhil (Oxon) FHEA, Director, Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Professor of Bioethics, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Research Fellow, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, Vice-Chair, Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee.
This podcast was sponsored by Australian Catholic University.
‘Give us better homilies’ - the worldwide Catholic Church’s plea to the Pope
The Church’s Radical Reform – a Listening Church?
Timothy Costelloe is the Archbishop of Perth, the President of the Australian Bishops’ Conference and part of the team preparing the global synod summit. As a senior figure in the Australian Catholic Church, he has been deeply involved in synodality, and what it means for the Church. An expert listener, he is an example of a bishop who adopts and lives the synod style of the Church.
In this episode, Archbishop Tim explains to The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb how the synod process can revitalise the Church globally and in Australia, but that it is not something that is going to happen overnight. In the face of a decline in religious practice in the West, Archbishop Tim wants a Church that can re-connect with a younger generation and consider adopting a “preferential option of the young.” But he also addresses the claim from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell that the synod is a “nightmare” and reflects on ten years of the Francis papacy. Archbishop Tim says that this Pope is reminding the Church that Jesus wasn’t someone who just taught the truth; he also showed the way in his interactions with the people. He pointed out that the only people Jesus strongly criticised were the religious authorities of the day — and it's the same group of people trying to undermine Francis.
This podcast is part of a series in partnership with The Tablet, sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.
Executive Producer: Silvia Saccco Producer: Jamie Weston
Fr Ed Dowling SJ - the story of Bill W’s spiritual sponsor
Bill Wilson was, with Dr Bob Smith, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He wrote the Big Book and the Twelve Steps and Traditions, used by millions of recovering alcoholics to stay sober, one day at a time, and now adapted for use by many hundreds of self-help groups around the world. While AA is not allied to any sect, denomination or organisation, a belief in a ‘higher power’ is a core part of the programme. However the steps and Big Book are written in such a way that makes it clear that atheists and agnostics can happily remain as such while working the programme successfully. A key individual who helped Bill W while he worked with other recovering alcoholics to shape AA and the steps was Fr Ed Dowling, a Jesuit who had an active ministry to alcoholics and others living on the edges of society. Now the well-known writer and Catholic, Dawn Eden Goldstein, has written the first in-depth biography of this extraordinary priest. In this podcast, Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Dawn about Fr Ed, why she wrote this book, and the wider impact of AA. Subscribe to The Tablet. Sign up to our twice-weekly free newsletter. Read Ruth Gledhill’s review of Dawn’s biography in The Tablet here.
Pope Francis ten years on
The Tablet’s Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb talks to Ruth Gledhill about the Pope Francis, the reforms he has undertaken and what he still hopes to do.
Read Chris's article on the tenth anniversary of his election in The Tablet.
The Pope, the Moderator and the Archbishop of Canterbury – DR Congo and South Sudan
Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and his ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan are powerful examples of the role faith can play in peace building. In an historic first, Francis will be joined in South Sudan by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Christopher Lamb, The Tablet’s Rome Correspondent, spoke to Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States (foreign minister), Bishop Precious Omuku, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Special Representative on Conflict in sub Saharan Africa at Lambeth Palace and Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, about the trip before himself joining Pope Francis on the plane to Kinshasa.
Ruth Gledhill talks to Catherine Pepinster about the legacy of Benedict XVI
The death of Benedict XVI and what happens now – Ruth Gledhill talks to Christopher Lamb
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the age of 95 was not unexpected. Pope Francis had indicated he was gravely ill from advancing age during his General Audience last Wednesday when he asked for prayers. He was the first pope to resign while in office in six centuries. Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb about the death of Benedict, his legacy and what happens now.
The Church’s Radical Reform – Conflict Resolution and Lessons from Australia
A commonly held fear about the synod process is that it will allow division and disagreement to veer out of control. Several bishops and priests don’t wish to engage with synodality as they worry it will disrupt the peace.
Is this fear justified? In this episode, I go inside a synod gathering in Sydney, Australia, where an explosive moment of disagreement almost derailed the whole process. Halfway through the Catholic Church in Australia’s plenary council assembly, a vote on the equal dignity of men and women in the Church failed to pass. There was a protest among some of the members and the threat of a walkout.
But then something remarkable took place. The gathering re-grouped, and a new motion on the role of women was formulated and later agreed upon. The moment of crisis became the turning point for renewal, and the plenary council ended up passing a series of motions that opens a new chapter for the Church in Australia.
This episode features interviews with several of those involved in the synod, including women leaders and Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who helped spearhead the process. The experience in Australia offers a valuable lesson for the rest of the Church: don’t be afraid.
Producers: Silvia Sacco, Jamie Western
The Church’s Radical Reform – the German challenge
The sixth podcast in Christopher Lamb’s series looks at “The German Challenge”.
If you read some of the commentaries about the German synodal pathway, you might be forgiven for believing that the Church in Germany is planning a second Reformation.
Der Synodale Weg, “the synodal path”, has faced heavy criticism for the way it is approaching the question of reform. The Germans have decided to focus on the use of power, women in ministry, priestly existence and Catholic sexual teaching. A majority of the assembly has indicated they are in favour of changes such as female ordination, married priests, same-sex partnerships and giving the laity more of a say in choosing bishops. All of this has led to charges that the Germans are causing a schism in the Church.
But is this true? In this episode, I spoke to two people involved in the process. One of them Lukas Nusser is aged 21 and a student, who is one of the youngest members of the synodal path. The other Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck leads the Diocese of Essen, a community of around 1 million Catholics in the Ruhr region of Germany.
Both of them talked about how the German synodal path sought to tackle a crisis in the Church caused by sex abuse and rapid secularisation. Der Synodale Weg, they argued, is an attempt to help the Church become a more credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And they both insisted it’s not about causing a schism.
Producers: Silvia Sacco
Jamie Weston
The Church’s radical reform – calm amid the storms
Cardinal Mario Grech is the man Pope Francis has placed in charge of the worldwide synod and in this episode. In the latest episode of his series, The Church’s Radical Reform, Christopher Lamb talks to him about the tensions that had been unleashed by the process.
The synod was never going to be plain sailing and disagreement among bishops about the direction of the Church has now spilt out into the open in ways not seen for centuries.
A German synodal process, which is focussing on Catholic sexual teaching, the use of power and the role of women, has been the target of heavy criticism by a number of bishops who believe it is on the path to schism. On the other hand, synod reflections in Catholic communities across the world have seen repeated calls for the Church to re-imagine its pastoral priorities and tackle these contested issues.
But the Maltese cardinal was remarkably calm and upbeat when we spoke. He sees the synod as offering a space for disagreements to be aired, where nothing is swept under the carpet and no one is excluded. The task of the Church, he stressed, is to listen to what the Holy Spirit is trying to say at this moment in history.
“Nothing really worries me in so far that we respect the fundamental principles of the Catholic Church,” he tells me. “Synodality offers that space where we can share our fears and our joys, our certainties and our doubts, our dreams. Obviously, there are dreams that can be realised, others that cannot. There are dreams that can be realised tomorrow, others need more time.”
What really hurts him, however, is those who see this as simply a project of the Francis pontificate which can soon be forgotten. No, Cardinal Grech insists, the synod is “laying the foundations of the Church for tomorrow.”
“The Church’s Radical Reform” podcast is hosted by The Tablet’s Christopher Lamb and is supported by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham.
The Church's Radical Reform – Inclusion and Reconciliation: Voices from Africa
Much of the media focus on the synod has been on western churches with the underlining question centred on how the process can reverse declining congregations and respond to the abuse crisis.
But what does it all mean for Africa, a part of the Catholic world where churches are overflowing and vocations booming? Is the synod having any impact?
In this episode, I put these questions to two leading Catholic figures: Fr Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, the President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, and Dominique Yon, a youth ministry co-ordinator in the Cape Town archdiocese and a Vatican adviser.
Both of them make a strong case for why a synodal Church is needed in Africa, how it can help implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and include marginalised voices such as those from the LGBTQ community. I also hear about how synodality gives the tools for the Church to become a peacemaker in a continent often scarred by civil war and conflict.
Prepare to be surprised by their answers.
Producers: Silvia Sacco, Jamie Weston
View from Rome with Christopher Lamb
Christopher Lamb, the Tablet’s Rome Correspondent, updates us on current events in Rome together with giving us some insights into working as the Rome Correspondent for The Tablet and covering the pontificate of Pope Francis.
A Tablet Webinar: The impact of Catholic education in civil society and the wider realm
A panel discussion in conjunction with The University of Notre Dame in Australia, on Christ-Centred Leadership Frameworks in Catholic Education led by Maggie Fergusson, the Literary Editor of The Tablet.
Maggie’s distinguished guests were: Renee Kohler-Ryan, National Head of the School of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia; Jenny Sinclair, the founder director of Together for the Common Good; Paul Stubbings, a Catholic Head Teacher of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in West London and Raymond Friel, CEO, Caritas Social Action Network.
Synod Watch Two – Synod wisdom from the Religious
Synod Watch Two explores Synod wisdom from the Religious, gaining an insight into the Religious Orders’ response to the Synod and their experience of discernment. Christopher Lamb and a panel of representatives from the Religious Orders discuss the synodal journey in this webinar with The Tablet. Details of past and future events are here.
Webinar host Christopher Lamb is a British journalist who is the Rome Correspondent for The Tablet. He is a contributor to the Vatican Insider page of La Stampa and a regular commentator for the BBC on Vatican and religious affairs.
Guests
Fr Nick Austin SJ is the Master of Campion Hall, Oxford and Senior Fellow in Theological Ethics. A Jesuit priest and spiritual director who teaches moral theology. His current research area is in moral discernment as understood by St Ignatius and brought to prominence by Pope Francis.
Sr Jolanda Kafka RMI is Superior General of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate – Claretian Missionaries, and the current President of the International Union of Superiors General.
Dr Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ belongs to the Congregation of Jesus and is Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Religious Life Institute at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge. Sr Gemma was previously Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at Heythrop College (2005-18) and President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain.
Sr Jane Bertelsen FMDM is Congregational Leader of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, an international Congregation present in 10 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. Sr Jane has been a member of the congregation, whose primary ministry is one of presence within the local community wherever they are sent, since 1977.
Sr Lynda Dearlove RSM was born in Middlesbrough and educated by the FCJs before reading Microbiology at Kent University, followed by a second degree in Social Policy Administration at Lancaster University. She joined the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy and took her final vows in 1989. She has always been dedicated to serving women involved in street based prostitution and victims of trafficking, managing the Dellow Day Centre in East London before founding women@thewell in 2006.
Robots, drones and smart churches? Catholic Social Teaching and the Artificial Intelligence Revolution
Natalie K. Watson, Publishing Editor of the Pastoral Review, in conversation with Seán McDonagh, eco-theologian and author of Robots, Ethics and the Future of Jobs, about the ethical and theological implications of Artificial Intelligence.
Seán McDonagh SSC is an Irish Columban missionary priest. As well as theology he has studied Anthropology and Linguistics. During his time as a missionary among the T'boli people in S.E. Mindanao, Philippines, he became aware of the enormous destruction of the environment which was taking place and has continued to challenge behaviour which destroys the Earth and impoverishes People.
The synodal process is something 'totally new' says Maradiaga
This episode of The Church's Radical Reform is an interview with Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras and a member of Pope Francis’ council of cardinal advisers.
The Church in Latin and Central America has been at the forefront of reform in Catholicism. Cardinal Maradiaga tells Christopher Lamb how the synodal process is something “totally new”.
He discusses how synodal reforms are being implemented, while also talking about Pope Francis’ plans to reform the Vatican. A keen saxophonist and musician, he says the Church must aim to create a symphony out of a cacophony of different voices.
He sees the future of the Church as lay people taking a lead. Every day more lay men and women are taking on responsibilities in the life of the Church, he says.
Regarding the role of women, he said: “In our countries in central American, women have been all the time leaders.” In many communities, women form the majority churchgoers and responsible for catechesis and passing on the faith. Clergy are “servants” and not people of power. In the Curia, highly-qualified women were now being placed in positions of leadership by Pope Francis.
The Synodal Pathway: Good News for Catholic Women
The Catholic Church has embarked on a two-year synodal pathway towards the Synod of Bishops on synodality in 2023. Women’s submissions to the synodal process must be made “as public as possible” in order to prevent any attempt to airbrush them out, theologian and broadcaster, Professor Tina Beattie said at a webinar hosted by the Tablet. The retired Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton said making submissions public would ensure that “if our voices are airbrushed out, or if the things we say that they don't like are airbrushed out, we can say this is not discernment. It is censorship”. Natalie K. Watson, Publishing Editor of the Pastoral Review, was in conversation with Tina Beattie, Penelope Middelboe, author and podcaster, Daisy Srblin, chief executive of the Catholic charity Million Minutes, and Dr Alana Harris, director of Liberal Arts and Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at King’s College, London, about synodality and the experience of women in the Catholic Church.
The Church’s radical reform – women lead the way
The synod process is opening up discussion about the role of female leadership in the Church.
In this episode, Christopher Lamb discusses what shape these roles could take, the position of women in early Christianity and why a “synodal” Church is a more inclusive one.
To find out more, he speaks to Professor Phyllis Zagano, who served on Pope Francis’ commission looking at female deacons, Nicola Brady, who has been tasked by the Irish bishops to lead their national synod and Susan Pascoe, an adviser to the Vatican and expert in church governance.
Executive Producer: Silvia Sacco
Producer: Renardo Schlegelmilch
The Church's radical reform – what is a synod?
In a new podcast series on synodality, “The Church’s Radical Reform”, Christopher Lamb explores the most ambitious Catholic renewal project in 60 years which was launched last month by Pope Francis. Episode One asks "What is a Synod?" and focuses on why a global synodal process is needed, what it might achieve and the opposition it is already facing. Among those interviewed for this episode are Sister Nathalie Becquart, from the synod office in Rome, Fr Hans Zollner, the Church's leading expert child protection, and Fr Jan Nowotnik, Director of Mission for the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. The series is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University in partnership with The Tablet. Producers: Silvia Sacco and Jamie Weston.
In Advent, we affirm our faith that we have a future.
The need to need to create 'a world without racism'
We talk to Kashaf Zahid of Gumley House School in West London, the winner of the 2021 Columban Schools Competition, Let’s create a world without racism, and to James Trewby, Columban Education Worker in Britain. Racism was chosen as a topic by the Columbans for its 2021 competition after many young people joined street protests on Black Lives Matter last summer. The fourth annual competition, it was the most popular to date, with the two strands of articles and images attracting almost 300 entries from nearly 100 schools. Competition results were released in the lead up to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Sunday 21 March 2021. Read Kashaf's winning entry here.
A sermon by Fr Alban McCoy for the third Sunday in Lent
“For me, to live is Christ”, says St Paul. That’s where we find ultimate meaning, where everything in our lives comes together. Lent 3 [A & B]2021. The Samaritan Woman at the Well (alternative gospel). John 4:5-42. A sermon by Fr Alban McCoy OFM Conv.
The shocking rise in Christian persecution
Austen Ivereigh talks about the Pope’s new book for a post-Covid world.
A damning indictment: child sex abuse, IICSA and the Catholic Church
Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb on the long-awaited McCarrick report