One of the sillier criticisms that some non-believers make of religious faith is that it is somehow arbitrary, never submitted to “ordinary” rules of credibility or proof. On the contrary: faith is daily exposed to test and challenge, constantly inviting us to look at ourselves differently and to set light to our comfort zones. And, above all, it tells us that it will take time; there will not be guaranteed results in a fortnight

Rowan Williams, The Sunday Times, 27 April

I am sceptical that tentative signs of religious revival imply a return to a 1950s-style culture of Sunday observance. What comes next may be better suited to hyper-individualistic modernity: a pick ’n’ mix of new-age beliefs, vague “spirituality” and meditation rituals of the kinds readily discernible in trendy corners of London

James Marriott, The Times, 29 April

I don’t go to church and would be a hypocrite if I did (I don’t believe in God), but I do know that standing in a nave for a wedding or a funeral, elbow to elbow with a stranger, joining my voice with theirs, feels more sacred than sitting in a conference room watching a Powerpoint about why God doesn’t exist ever could

Sarah Ditum, UnHerd, 25 April

Francis’s most admirable commitments . . . seem among his most futile. A Pope who asked for refugees and migrants to be welcomed with an open heart dies as hearts are hardened towards outsiders across the West. A Pope who reversed a century of compromise with capitalism, restating a choice laid down two millennia before — to serve Mammon, or to serve God — dies at a time when the ultra-wealthy enjoy unprecedented power and prestige. A Pope who spoke incessantly of peacemaking dies as the world descends into war

Madoc Carins, The New Statesman, 21 April

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