³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The controversy surrounding the decision by Pope Benedict to lift the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a Holocaust-denying bishop, is deepening and widening. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has cut off ties with the Vatican in protest, British parliamentarians have condemned the move, and, now, a leading cardinal has said the decision was a mistake.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna and a personal friend of the Pope, : "Obviously a mistake has been made here. Someone who denies the Holocaust, Shoah deniers, cannot be restored to an office in the Church. Here there must be also a certain criticism of the Vatican's staff practice, which obviously did not examine the matter carefully or did not examine sufficiently the case in the information that they had."

Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the Catholic bishop of the German city of Regensburg, announced on Wednesday that Bishop Williamson would be excluded from his cathedral and all other church properties in his diocese.

Bernard Fellay, the Supreme General of Bishop Williamson's fraternity, , responded this week by silencing the bishop on all matters of political and historical controversy. But , published on his website, has managed only to stoke further controversy: although it makes it clear that "Bishop
Williamson's statements do not in any way reflect the position of our Society", the statement offers an apology to the Pope, but not to the Jewish people, and appears more concerned with how this incident may damage the reputation of the SSPX in the eyes of the Vatican.

For his part, Bishop Williamson has written to the Vatican for having caused "so much unnecessary distress and problems" to the pope. Again, no apology to Jewish people; and no retraction of the holocaust-denying claims; merely a concern that the comments have created trouble for the church. The bishop's apology for causing that trouble could not be more abject. He even cites Jonas I: 12 against himself: "Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."

We'll have reaction from Britain's Jewish community to this unfolding crisis for the Vatican on tomorrow's Sunday Sequence.

While the UK is debating the decision by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and Sky to block a free-standing TV appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee, America is debating the decision by NBC to , People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. was due to play to a massive audience during the Super Bowl and is clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek (though it looks more like courgette-in-cheek). The scientific research underlying the ad relates to weight and fitness levels of the average American vegetarian by comparison with the average American meat-eater.

Read the rest of this entry

An update on the campaign to persuade Gordon Brown to guarantee the funds of the Presbyterian Mutual Society. 23 former Moderators of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland have written to the heads of government in London, Dublin and of the NI Executive in Belfast "pleading with them to offer help which will be of assistance to individuals and congregations whose capital is with the Presbyterian Mutual Society either as shareholders or creditors."

This list of names is limited to Irish moderators. I am not aware of any leading figures with the Church of Scotland, the mother-church of Irish Presbyterianism -- and the PM's ecclesiastical home -- who have intervened to support the lrish denomination's appeal.

A couple of weeks ago, we covered the ethical debate about screening for autism. I can't resist posting this video of the now-famous story of Jason McIlwain.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Director-General, Mark Thompson, has defended his decision, as editor-in-chief, to block the broadcast a in the face of mounting pressure from politicians, church leaders and charities, and more than 11,000 viewers who have written, phoned or emailed complaints. ITV, Channel 4 and Five have decided to broadcast the DEC appeal but Sky will not be screening the appeal for reasons similar to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's. Mark Thompson has used the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ editors' blog to set out the thinking behind his decision. His central argument is this:

Read the rest of this entry

The Presbyterian Moderator, Dr Donald Patton, pictured, has urged all Presbyterians to join an online petition which calls on the Prime Minister "to provide similar governmental guarantees to UK mutual societies as for banks". So far, less than 4000 people have signed the online petition. The Moderator acknowledged, on today's Sunday Sequence, that if only a few people sign the petition, Gordon Brown could suggest that the proposal is not widely supported.

Dr Patton might start by persuading his predecessors as Presbyterian Moderator to add their names to the online petition. Since the petition is a public list I've checked though the past 20 moderators, and less than half-a-dozen of them have signed the petition at this point. I won't mention any names. The name of the First Minister, Peter Robinson, is also absent (though there may be reasons linked to his office for that). Iris Robinson has signed the petition, as has OFMDFM junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson. Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey and Alliance leader David Ford have added their names to, along with a small number of other MLAs and councillors have also signed. A search for the names of church leaders from beyond Presbyterianism shows no results. (Some church leaders and politicians may, of course, have signed separate, hard-copy petitions, to which we are not privy.)

Read the rest of this entry

Pope Benedict by welcoming back into the Catholic fold a previously excommunicated bishop . Richard Williamson was automaticatically excommunicated in 1988 when he was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) without papal approval.

Update 26 January: Pope Benedict , whom he called "out brothers of the first covenant", and said that the Holocaust "should be a warning for everyone against forgetting, denying or diminishing its significance". He clearly had Bishop Williamson in his sites, but he stopped shop of challenging the bishop by name or more directly.

Read the rest of this entry

America is using as fighting machines in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are still relatively primitive, but some think this is the future of warfare. P.W. Singer, a defence specialist with the Brookings Institution, . Money quote:

"Even if the nation sending in its robots acts in a just cause, such as stopping a genocide, war without risk or sacrifice becomes merely an act of somewhat selfish charity. One side has the wealth to afford high technologies, and the other does not. The only message of "moral character" a nation transmits is that it alone gets the right to stop bad things, but only at the time and place of its choosing, and most important, only if the costs are low enough. With robots, the human costs weighed against those lives that might be saved become zero. It doesn't mean the nation shouldn't act. But when it does, it must realize that even the just wars become exercises in playing God from afar, with unmanned weapons substituting for thunderbolts."

Apparently, Obama's phone by the Secret Service. This will be disappointing news for those who were hoping for an iPresidency.

Two priests, both originally from Ireland, are at the centre of in the history of the American Catholic Church. They are accused of stealing more than $800,000, from their parish collection plates, to fund holidays, gambling, and the expenses of lovers and mistresses. Monsignor John Skehan has already pleaded guilty to embezzlement. His colleague at St Vincent Ferrer Church, Fr Francis Guinan, denies the charge. Fr Skehan comes from Johnstown, in County Kilkenny, and Fr Guinan is originally from Birr, County Offaly. In fact, it was while returning from a trip to Ireland in 2006 that Fr Skehan was arrested.

I know I promised not to blog again about the inauguration, but this is irresistible. Chief Justice Roberts , in . The White House says they repeated the oath out of "an abundance of caution", even though they believe the first oath, taken on Tuesday, was valid. Apparently, the placing of the word "faithfully" is the issue. I suggested on Tuesday that some may challenge the constitutionality of the oath because of this mix-up of words. Maybe the White House is reading Will & Testament?

Short of a third swearing-in, that really is my last post on this.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has concluded that the "There's probably no God" bus ad campaign by the British Humanist Association is not in breach of the advertising code. The ASA will therefore not launch an investigation and the case is now closed, they write.

The adjudication, published today, :

"The ASA carefully assessed the 326 complaints it received. Some complained that the ad was offensive and denigratory to people of faith. Others challenged whether the ad was misleading because the advertiser would not be able to substantiate its claim that God "probably" does not exist. The ASA Council concluded that the ad was an expression of the advertiser's opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation. Although the ASA acknowledges that the content of the ad would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence."

I wonder how humanists will feel about the claim, here, that the probability or improbability of God's existence "is not capable of objective substantiation".

Barack Obama stoked the comparisons between himself and Lincoln, and now the comparisons are being drawn. But not in President Obama's favour -- at least as far as rhetoric goes. I watched the Inauguration on a hospital television set, while visiting my friend Shannon (Get well soon, Shan!), and the new president's speech was good, very good even, but not "great". He made better speeches during the campaign; and his is still, I think, his best.

Lincoln's was indeed great, and is the historic benchmark. FDR's first inaugural is remembered for a single line ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"), and JFK is remembered for saying "Ask not what your country can do for you ..." -- again, a single line. Perhaps Obama's will be remembered for his reference to the Muslim world, or his acknowledgment that America includes "non-believers". If a single sentence or paragraph is remembered by history, it may be this:

"The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity, on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."

Read the rest of this entry

In case you missed Dr Joseph Lowery's benediction at yesterday's Inauguration, you can watch it on YouTube . Lowery is a legend in of the civil rights movement in the US, and his sermons and prayers are always unpredictable, but always memorable. Money quote:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen ... say Amen ...say AMEN!

Read it all below the line.

Read the rest of this entry

Within minutes (in fact, within 60 seconds) of his inauguration as 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama's White House launched .

Change really has come to America. "I Solemnly swear that I will blog my way through the presidency . . . "

The choice of the evangelical pastor Rick Warren to lead prayers at today's Inauguration was controversial in the United States, but his actual prayer, delivered with passion and in a style that was both conversational and authoritative, may win him some friends. The pastor said in advance of today's ceremony that he would reach out to America's religious diversity while maintaining his own integrity as a traditional Christian believer. With references to "the compassionate, the merciful", and various forms of the name of Jesus, he has sought to do that here. Needless to say, it was a classic, prayer. A transcript:

Read the rest of this entry

The conspiracy theorists will have a field day. Barack Obama is the first president in US history to take the oath of office from a Supreme Court Chief Justice he voted against. I'm sure that doesn't explain why Chief Justice John Roberts .

It's easily done, especially in an event of this enormity. Because of an interruption by Mr Obama, the Chief Justice stumbled over the next phrase of the oath. Instead of saying, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States ...", he in fact said, "that I will execute the office of President to the United States faithfully". Then the two of them got into a little scuffle, whereupon the Chief Justice tried to give the line again more accurately, but managed only to offer an incoherent recollection of the line: "the off-, faithfully the Pres-, office of resident of the United States." Thankfully, they pulled it together for the concluding phrase: "and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Those wags who are already arguing that Obama was not legally sworn in because the precise wording of the oath was not delivered have not a legal foot to stand on. There's a reason why the oath is administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

It's not likely that he will get much of a chance to read today. Obama takes the oath of office at 5.00 pm (GMT), which is followed by lunch, an inauguration parade, dinner, and a tour of all ten official inauguration balls. Which means, according to the , the Obamas will make it to the White House for their first evening of rest in their new home at nearly 2.30 am, local time. ( the Official inauguration website.)

The inauguration theme is "A New Birth of Freedom", a phrase taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The former senator from Illinois, Lincoln's state, has been stoking his speeches with Lincolnian echoes; he followed Lincoln's path to Washington via train, and when he takes the oath of office today, he will place his hand on the same Bible used by Lincoln in his inauguration. In 1999, during a presidential debate, George W. Bush was asked to name his favourite political thinker or philosopher. The future president said, "Jesus Christ. Because he changed my life." I suspect Obama's answer would be, "Abraham Lincoln. Because he reunited America."

Read the rest of this entry

This is the kind of caller every phone-in host prays for:

Some bus drivers may refuse to drive vehicles carrying a humanist ad, but a church in Glasgow has decided to jump on the bandwagon instead. has produced a theistic version of the ad and is using it as a discussion starter. (To date, no church member has been teased into joining the discussion.)

The : "Has anybody seen the buses about "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." I think it's amazing talking point, and I can't believe Christians are complaining about it!!!! Would we really want to shrink away from this. The things I would love to discuss with people are this. Is a probably enough to stick your life on? Does God want you to worry? And why does Christianity stop you enjoying life?"

The grammar of this post is a little adventurous for my taste, and stacking up exclamation marks like dominos about to be toppled is always a worry, but the questions asked are not unreasonable.

Bishop Gene Robinson is one of four Protestant clergymen who will help to pray Barack Obama into his first term of office. Bishop Robinson offered a prayer at the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday, in which he invoked "the God of our many understandings", rather than the name of Jesus Christ. The bishop says that was deliberate and that he wished to offer an invocation that enabled people of all faiths to join their prayers with his.

The bishop also prayed that Americans would remember that their new president is a human being, not a messiah; asked God to "inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for all the people"; and twice implored God to keep the new president safe. (Read on for the text of the bishop's prayer, or watch the prayer .)

Read the rest of this entry

Tomorrow is apparently Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. If you believe that, you'll believe yesterday was the happiest day of the year. There appears to be just as much evidence for either claim. From what I can tell, fixing the national day of misery on the Monday of the last full week in January was a publicity stunt by a travel company that shall remain nameless. In any event, for those who allow the unofficial renaming of 19 January 2009 as Blue Monday to actually get them down. Cheer up.

Some bloggers are understandably confused -- well, they seem more irate than confused -- that ordinary Catholic priests can grant absolution in the case of genocide, while other "sins", such as aiding an abortion, the assassinating a pope, or desecrating the eucharistic Host, must be referred to the Church's Apostolic Penitentiary for papal absolution. The source of that concern seems to be in the Daily Telegraph.

The Telegraph says: "While priests and bishops can deal with confessions of sins as grave as murder or even genocide, the tribunal is reserved for crimes which are viewed by the Church as even more serious. They include attempting to assassinate the Pope, a priest abusing the confidentiality of the confessional by revealing the nature of the sin and the person who admitted to it, or a priest who has sex with someone and then offers forgiveness for the act. A third type of case that comes before the tribunal involves a man who directly participates in an abortion - even by paying for it - who then seeks to become a priest or deacon."

Is this a fair account of the work of the Apostolic Penitentiary?

Read the rest of this entry

Our Rome correspondent David Willey reported today on the , the secretive Vatican body that deals with sins so grave that only the Pope can grant absolution. Pictured is the current head of the office, or "Major Penitentiary", , and his Regent, or chief of staff, in their first official meeting with Pope Benedict. For images of the Cancelleria Palace, which houses the Apostolic Penitentiary, see . The palace's beautiful hall is shown .

The penitentiary sounds like a prison, but that curious term relates to the category of penance, rather than incarceration. And the kinds of assumed sins in question include desecration of the host and some occasions of involvement in abortion. I say "assumed" because not all Catholics are agreed about what the Vatican regards as a sin these days. Many Catholics use birth control even though the church teaches that deliberately preventing conception during sex is sinful. For this, and many other reasons, today's Catholics are staying away from the confessional in their droves.

I'd like to hear about your views and experiences. Does "confession" make sense today? When is it psychologically helpful to unburden yourself and seek forgiveness? Do the traditional Protestant critiques of the priest's role in confession still stand? And which acts, previously regarded as sins, should no longer be seen as impure, evil or reprehensible?

Go on: 'fess up. It's good for you.

It's time to stop using the term "atheist bus". That phrase gives the impression that are paying to dispatch specially-equipped vehicles designed to challenge supernaturalism at every street corner across the country. In fact, they are paying for on the sides of some 800 buses that are designed to carry adverts, and on ad spots in the London underground. If there were actual "atheist" buses, in the former sense, one could understand why Ron Heather, a 62-year-old Southampton bus driver, would refuse to drive one.

But Ron Heather is in the news for different reasons. at First Bus because he was asked to drive a bus which carried the humanist advert. Mr Heather, pictured, believes that driving a bus carrying this ad is inconsistent with his Christian faith. After conversations with his managers at , he has since returned to work with an assurance that they will do everything they can to ensure that he does not have to drive buses carrying the ad.

Read the rest of this entry

I've just learned that the playwright and novelist John Mortimer has died peacefully this morning after a long illness. He was 85. I've been a fan of Rumpole of the Bailey, Mortimer's most famous creation, since I was a student. But it would be a mistake to assess Mortimer's legacy solely in terms of the disorganised senior junior Horace Rumpole.

Read the rest of this entry

There has been a great deal of local press coverage today of the Administrator's proposals for the Presbyterian Mutual Society. In addition to covering the financial implications of the Administrator's report that the Society is unlikely to eb rescued, we have an interest in the Presbyterian Church's response to this unfolding crisis. We have some important questions to ask senior officials from the Presbyterian Church, and I'm sure church members may be wondering why we have not interviewed any senior church figure today.

Read the rest of this entry

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon has expressed outrage at the by Israeli forces. The Israeli government say the shelling of the UN site was a "grave mistake". There have been a lot of grave mistakes since this offensive began on 27 December, with repeated claims that civilian deaths were accidental casualties of war in a deeply populated area.

Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip reach 1,028 according to Gaza medical sources. Nearly a third of the dead are said to be children. 13 Israelis are reported to have died so far.

We're back into the culture war of giving and taking offence. Coronation Street producers rented a Church of England parish church to film a wedding scene, in case.

One can understand why producers would wish to avoid causing offence to viewers, but why would they imagine that a Christian symbol placed at the centre of a Christian place of worship is an offensive image? Presumably, the audience of Coronation Street is more than willing to accept that a cross makes sense as an aspect of .

The programme-makers now accept that a mistake was made in this case. It's quite a serious error, in fact, both from a production and a PR point of view. From a production point of view it's a mistake because the characters at the centre of the episode wanted a traditional wedding, and it is a narrative oversight to exclude the cross from that depiction; and from a PR point of view it's a mistake because the producers have come close to insulting the intelligence of their viewers. On the other hand, there's nothing like a little bad publicity to raise an audience.

Perhaps we could all learn from the wisdom of Alexander Pope: "At every trifle, scorn to take offence; that always shows great pride, or little sense."

In any case, , pictured, is to have the last word. They were paid more a location fee of more than £4000 and they plan to use that money to purchase a new Processional Cross. A perfectly pitched response by this historic church community: graceful, classy, and playfully ironic.

The Presbyterian Mutual Society's Administrator has written to the society's 9,500 members . Arthur Boyd says this route would grant part-repayment of the members' investments, and would allow the society to continue to exist in the future, in some form, should the members desire it.

UPDATE: Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey tonight called for the Government to intervene to help those caught up in the crisis. Many would be devastated by the news which arrived in the post from the administrator, he said, and extended to them his deepest regret. But he added: "I believe the Government has let these individuals down - they have failed to step in and address the matter and have simply shifted responsibility to ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive. This is most
unfortunate indeed." Sir Reg, one of the ministers in the Executive, said it was not good enough for the buck to be passed to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Belfast. "After all, the Prime Minister said that this was not a national crisis but a worldwide crisis. If this is so, it makes no sense for the Treasury to argue that this matter is for a small region to resolve. "If ever there was an opportunity for government to help its citizens out in a difficult situation then it is now," added Sir Reg.

This seems to be the week for medical debates in the media. We haven't had a chance to properly examine the autism debate and the fat adoption dilemma, and now a Labour MP tells us that d. ; it is simply a mask for disguising poor teaching in the nation's schools. Mr Stringer is not an educational psychologist, but some specialists in that field have raised a similar alarm about dyslexia diagnoses in the past. , a psychologist at Durham University, that 'he cannot find any difference between a child labelled "dyslexic" and a child labelled "a poor reader".'

Read the rest of this entry

I am delighted to report that Blueprint, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland's TV natural history series, which was broadcast early last year, has been shortlisted in the in the Best Factual Series category. This is terrific news for all of us who worked on the series. The Blueprint team put in many hundreds of hours of work from the research stage, through the writing stage, to filming, post-production graphics, an original score, and so much more. This was one of the biggest projects ever attempted by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland, and I can't possibly name everyone involved; but many congratulations to the very talented group of people who made this happen. None of us will every forget this project. I will particularly never forget been lashed to the deck of a to deliver a piece to camera in a force 10 gale with the series producer directing the ship's pilot to aim for bigger waves. Many congratulations to that same series producer Natalie Maynes, who brought all the elements of this enormous project together quite brilliantly.

Damien and Charlotte Hall, pictured, have been told by Leeds City Council adoption services that they are unable to progress the couple's application because about Mr Hall's weight. Damien Hall is 343lbs (156kg) and, at 6ft 1in, he has a of 42. The council say they will consider his application again if his BMI falls below 40.

Read the rest of this entry

The news that , which would allow us to terminate pregnancies where there is evidence of autism spectrum disorders, must lead to a public debate about the ethical and unethical use of that new knowledge. We can expect inevitable and mostly inaccurate comparisons with Nazi eugenics programmes, and the hasty deployment of the phrase "playing God". But this subject requires a calm head and a careful analysis.

The director of the team, , is right to call for an ethical debate ahead of a viable prenatal test. Autism is a condition that sometimes blesses the human population with mathematical geniuses and brilliant artists; but in many other cases the condition produces extreme learning difficulties. Professor Baron-Cohen helpfully lays out some of the issues at stake in a public debate .

Read the rest of this entry

More than 50 people have now made complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Atheist Bus ad campaign. According to the slogan of the campaign, "There's probably no God." Complainants allege that this claim lacks substantiation and is not true. The ASA will now have to produce an adjudication about the slogan, based on the .

I've been reviewing the CAP code and the atheist bus ad may well have a case to answer. Under the "truthfulness" provisions, the Code says, "No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise." Under the section dealing with "substantiation", the Code says, "If there is a significant division of informed opinion about any claims made in a marketing communication they should not be portrayed as generally agreed." Similarly, under the "matters of opinion" provisions, the Code says, "Marketers may give a view about any matter, including the qualities or desirability of their products, provided it is clear that they are expressing their own opinion rather than stating a fact."

Read the rest of this entry

There has been enormous coverage across the media of Prince Harry's use of a racist slur term he produced three years ago -- and appropriately so -- but almost no coverage of the prince's . Stonewall, the UK's leading gay equality organisation, is concerned about that lack of coverage and what it may say about the value we place on diversity. The video shows the prince asking if a fellow officer is feeling "gay" or "a bit queer on the side". Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, says "It's conspicuous that Prince Harry has expressed regret for his racist remarks, but not yet for his homophobic ones".

It's that time of the year again: nominations are being received for the Irish Blog Awards in a variety of categories. Will & Testament has already been nominated; if you feel so minded, you can vote for W&T . That was a shameless plug, in case you hadn't noticed.

Dr Michael Irwin, a former UN medical director, has designed an advanced healthcare directive for use throughout Ireland. He was my guest on today's Sunday Sequence and explained the legal status of this version of a "living will", which enables people to clearly set out their wishes in respect of any medical treatment that may be available in the event of a future medical emergency. You can download the living will for free from T. There is a helpful explanation of the legal status of the document, and answers to other frequently asked questions, .

I presented Talk Back this week and we gave significant coverage to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. We debated the arguments deployed by both Israel and Hamas, reported on the growing humanitarian crisis in that tiny strip of land, and examined the options facing the international community. We also considered the argument, presented by quite a few callers, that Gaza's experience is analogous to the experience of the Jews during the European Holocaust. Inevitably, some callers wondered what lessons -- and which analogies -- emerged from the experience of Northern Ireland. Patrick Corrigan, over at his , considers that last point. He writes:

"What is clear from Northern Ireland's recent history is that grave human rights violations creates a cycle of injustice not justice, insecurity not security, and it is only when parties to conflict are willing to place human rights and equality of treatment at the heart of a peace and security deal that longer-term solutions for all can be secured."

On tomorrow's Sunday Sequence, we'll be reporting from today's big march and rally for peace in Gaza, and examining the role that's played by theology in this current debate. How does someone's theological perspective -- on, for example, eschatology -- shape their sympathies in respect of the contemporary middle east crisis?

The comparison,, president of the Council for Justice and Peace, pictured, has infuriated Israel. In an interview on Wednesday, Cardinal Martino said, "Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more; it resembles a big concentration camp."

On Thursday, Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, was quick to reply: It is "shocking to hear the vocabulary of Hamas propaganda coming from a member of the church."

Then came the Vatican back-step: Fr Federico Lombardi, the Pope's spokesman, said Cardinal Martino's choice of words was "inopportune" and likely to create "irritation and confusion". He referred the Israeli authorities to the Pope's "more authoritative" statements on the Gaza crisis.

And so, it would appear, we have another instance of at work. Cardinal Martino joins a long line of public figures who've had to eat their words after drawing an analogt with Nazi atrocies. In Northern Ireland affairs, and had cause to regret their use of the N-word. In the vast majority of cases, a sensible politician would be well-advised to avoid the analogy althogether; a subsequent and embarrassing back-down is almost inevitable.

As the era of the Bushism nears its close, a last chance to enjoy some of . What's your favourite?

Melanie Phillips continues to berate Western journalists for their coverage of Israel's military action in Gaza. Last month she wondered ifagainst some anti-Israeli commentators:

"Hamas has been blamed for this war by Mahmoud Abbas, who said Hamas could have avoided this attack if it had prolonged its 'cease-fire'. It has been blamed for this war by Egypt; and Arab states which are terrified of Islamism in general and Iran in particular are privately rooting for Israel to wipe Hamas out. Even the Israeli left is supporting this operation. The only people taking the side of the genocidal terrorists of Hamas are the western media, parroting their propaganda and thus inciting yet more to join the murderous rampage against Israel as well as ratcheting up the pressure on world leaders to force Israel to stop before Hamas is destroyed. Isn't there a case for legal action against these media outlets on account of their blood libels, for indirectly aiding the perpetrators of attempted genocide?"

The philosopher about the use of the word "probably" in the campaign's slogan, "There's probably no God - Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." He says if atheists should be required by the advertising watchdog to insert the modifier "probably" in their campaigns, then religious believers should be required to insert the modifier "allegedly" when they refer to supernatural beings. When, he asks, did the Advertising Standards Agency become a metaphysical authority?

Money quote: "There is something delicious about the thought of a functionary in an advertising agency doing ontology by arbitrating on the question of which fictional characters need a grey area of uncertainty around discussion of their existence - Little Red Riding Hood? Rumpelstiltskin? Santa? Betty Boop? Saint Veronica (who allegedly started out as sweat on a cloth and became a person)? Aphrodite? Wotan? Batman?"

In any case, says Grayling, parity of esteem should surely require that religious ads are similarly modified to avoid any "alleged" confusion. He plans to complain to the ASA and is encouraging others to join his letter-writing () campaign.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's obituary for capitalism, delivered amid the art deco splendour of Claridge's in the heart of London's Mayfair, reminds Portwyne of the story told by a friend returning from a conference in Ashford Castle:

"An American fellow delegate asked her if she knew why there were so many clergy in the hotel. She replied that they were there attending a forum on Holy Poverty. The American replied, 'Gee, I'd sure like to be around when those guys are discussing clerical celibacy'."

An Anglican church in England has taken down a statue of the crucifixion because it apparently scared local children and visitors found it a turn-off. The Rev , vicar at in Horsham, West Sussex, of the sculpture by Edward Bainbridge Copnall:

"The crucifix expressed suffering, torment, pain and anguish. It was a scary image, particularly for children. Parents didn't want to walk past it with their kids, because they found it so horrifying. It wasn't a suitable image for the outside of a church wanting to welcome worshippers. In fact, it was a real put-off. We're all about hope, encouragement and the joy of the Christian faith. We want to communicate good news, not bad news, so we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross."

I am taken by the last line of this comment: "we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross". Any suggestions or a replacement symbol?

That's according to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Is it ironic that the cardinal made the claim at a "lavish" ?

Last month, the cardinal said, "Religious leaders are not normally economists, however, they cannot ignore the damaging human consequences of the rise and fall of economic indicators. Behind the gloomy headlines are cities, neighbourhoods, families, individuals deeply affected by the economic breakdown; and the hardest hit will be the poor: those already struggling to survive. Christians have a paramount concern for the poor. This "preferential option for the poor" is a constant theme in Catholic social teaching."

His most recent comments follow the attack on the government's anti-recession policy launched at Christmas by five Anglican bishops who said the New Labour stategy was "morally corrupt".

Baroness Mary Warnock, the distinguished philosopher who triggered a public debate about euthanasia last September when she argued that dementia patients should be permitted to opt for euthanasia to the NHS or their families, is to make the case for euthanasia in a public debate in Belfast on Monday evening. The debate organised by the will consider the motion "'This house believes that the right to medical assistance to die should be recognised".

Mary Warnock, pictured, a former Cambridge don and Girton College principal, has helped to reshape Britain's moral landscape for the past four decades in areas as diverse as educational reform and medical ethics. The Warnock Report of 1984 laid the foundation for today's legislation on human fertilisation and embryology.

Opposing the motion is Dr Idris Baker, a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at TÅ· Olwen in Swansea. Dr Baker trained in Cambridge, London and Leicester, among other places, and before taking up his present post in 2005 was Visiting Scholar at the in New York working on issues of capacity, advance decisions and proxy decision-making.

The public debate (admission free) begins at 7.30 pm at All Souls Church, Elmwood Avenue, in Belfast. Both speakers will address the gathering for 30 minutes, followed by questions from the floor and open debate, before a vote is taken. I will be in the chair, and we will be reporting on the event on Sunday Sequence on 11 January.

Every Catholic bishop, missionary society and religious congregation in Ireland is to be asked to sign a written commitment to implement agreed child protection guidelines in the wake of the recent very damaging report into the Diocese of Cloyne. Cardinal Seán Brady announced the move and offered to be the first bishop to sign the new commitment.

This response by the cardinal is a clear signal of his seriousness in dealing with this latest episode, but the response may raise yet more questions from child protection campaigners and victims and survivors groups. For example: Does this mean that bishops had not previously committed themselves to "implement all statutory guidelines and the agreed policy of the Bishops' Conference, the Irish Missionary Union and the Conference of Religious of Ireland"? And if they have already made that commitment, why would a re-statement of that commitment provide a strengthened guarantee of actual implementation in the light of the recent case?

Similarly, the cardinal acknowledges that "The findings of the recent report of the National Board into the handling of allegations by the Diocese of Cloyne have brought further anxiety to victims of abuse". He accepts that this report may cause many to question the efforts of those within the church working to ensure the safety of children. But beyond these comments, the statement says nothing more about the sanctions and penalties that could or should follow any bishop's failure to implement the guidelines and policies.

One thing is now clear, and this is fully accepted by Cardinal Brady: the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church has proved that it is able to conduct successful investigations and raise an alert when necessary.

Read the rest of this entry

Church leaders are often criticised for failing to give moral leadership on the real issues our society is facing. They are sometimes portrayed as colourless ecclesiastical automata repeating tired phrases from an out-of-print lexicon. If they are said to have any colour, it is typically "grey". They frequently appear lost in translation in the media age, so disconnected from the world around them that they should be offered weekly viewing of a Zeitgeist tape to bring them up to speed.

Not so the Archbishop of York, our Person of the Year 2008. Dr John Sentamu is a master of morally-charged gestures that regularly capture the public's imagination, and he is one of the UK's most outspoken public leaders. The Daily Telegraph was right to describe him as "a world-class showman who is divinely inspired."

Read the rest of this entry