Mr President, millions have put their trust in you. . . In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now
Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, preaching in Washington National Cathedral, 21 January
Thirty-eight per cent of them, as well as most Americans in general, have him [Trump] down as “not too” or “not at all religious”. I won’t presume to know the inner life of a stranger. But as far as the public is concerned, the US has had, and is about to have again, a leader who is at least atheist-adjacent. Within my lifetime, this was unthinkable
Janan Ganesh, Financial Times, 18 January
He [the Pope] is well known for being impatient with written texts and fond of unscripted rumination. It is a trait that endears him to his audiences: he sounds like a human being. But many situations call for honesty about where structures and disciplines are experienced as oppressive and unfair or incoherent; not everything can be resolved by personal warmth and charity
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, in his review of Hope by Pope Francis, The New Statesman (17-23 January)
I find the idea of someone who might have been pressured into it being killed by the state horrifically chilling. It’s not some dispassionate risk assessment; I feel it in my bones. That feeling is belief, and I’m left asking how, exactly, it’s any different from a belief held by someone of faith?
Sonia Sodah, the Spectator website, 19 January
We’re a spiritual hub and a community space in the heart of the city. But we also have to run this as a business. We need people to recognise the urgency of the situation. We’re not crying wolf
Christopher Dalliston, Dean of Peterborough, interview in The Guardian, 21 January, about the cathedral’s urgent financial appeal (News, 17 January)
My Lords, the sooner [Elon] Musk goes to Mars the better
Lynne Featherstone, House of Lords, 17 January
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