The Church’s job is not to win debates with Richard Dawkins but to recite the offices (preferably from the Prayer Book), to celebrate the Eucharist, to visit the sick and the lonely, to teach in schools

A.N. Wilson, The Times, 31 January

Getting things done as chief nursing officer is about influence, relationships, persuasiveness, your standing. . . Some of those [qualities] will stand her in good stead for a role where you have nominal authority but have to manage by consent

Nigel Crisp, former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, quoted in profile of Archbishop Mullally, Financial Times, 31 January

Evensong is incredibly inclusive. . . You can find deep faith and meaning in an act of worship. Or you can simply enjoy the meditative quality of the music

Sam Jackson, Controller of Radio 3, quoted in the Telegraph, 1 February

No, I’m definitely not like an angel

Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister, responds on Instagram to a story about a detail in the restored fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, in Lucina, which is said to resemble her, 1 February

Surely there is someone in the Church hierarchy with the imagination to see that restoring these buildings would not only preserve them for future generations, but also provide employment and training for local people

Jane Moth, letter in the Telegraph, 4 February

I’m not in the business of trying to explain the unexplainable, but I have seen enough to be open to the idea that places really can be haunted

Jason Bray, Dean of Llandaff, the Telegraph, 31 January

We invite readers’ contributions. Quotations have to be from the past few days (or quoted therein), and we need author, source, and date. Please send promptly to: quotes@churchtimes.co.uk