Author Archives: Andrew Stuttaford

Francis & Bloy

In the Daily Telegraph, Tim Stanley writes: A chance click on a blog by Alejandro Bermúdez, head of the Catholic News Agency, leant me a fascinating insight into [the Pope’s] intellectual character. During his first homily, Pope Francis quoted the … Continue reading

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Meanwhile…..

Cross-posted on the Corner: Via Bloomberg News: A Jeddah criminal court judge has sentenced Saudi Arabian journalist Raif Badawi to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for the crime of “insulting Islam.” It could have gone worse for Badawi: … Continue reading

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Meanwhile…..

Rubbish Tories

Cross-posted on the Corner: If recycling is, as the saying goes, the liberal equivalent of prayer, what does this make the rubbish bins of Britain? Over at the Daily Telegraph, Brendan O’Neill gives an update: You would think the solution … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Pastoral Care

The BBC reports: Some young HIV patients are giving up their medicine after being told by Pentecostal Church pastors to rely on faith in God instead, doctors warn. Medical staff told the BBC a minority of pastors in England were … Continue reading

Posted in Science & Faith | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Pastoral Care

Nice One, Kirill (Not)

Pope Francis thinks that same-sex marriage is the work of the “father of lies”. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, dodgy Putin crony Patriarch Kirill may be even more uneasy. Russia Today reported this (my emphasis added) back in … Continue reading

Posted in Church & State | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Slip?

Over at the Guardian, Nick Cohen highlights an intriguing detail in Pope Francis’s “who am I to judge” remark about homosexuals: Journalists wanted to know whether a “gay lobby” in the Vatican had covered up Ricca’s alleged sins. “If a … Continue reading

Posted in politics, Religion | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Slip?

A Pope for the Descamisados?

Over at the National Catholic Reporter, John Allen exults over the undeniable success of the early months in office of the genial, (sort of Peronist) prelate now known as Pope Francis. Some of the rejoicing is over the top—given the … Continue reading

Posted in politics | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Round and Round

Over at the American Conservative, Noah Millman is frustrated by the nature of the debate between scientists (or “science popularizers”) and theists. I feel like we go around this track every other month. A scientist or science-popularizer writes an unpersuasive … Continue reading

Posted in debate | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

On The Importance of Thinking Well

Theodore Dalrymple is too kind in his assessment of the previous pope, a clever man, certainly, but one capable of thoroughly disingenuous argument, but that aside, this critique of some comments made by Francis, his successor, during the course of … Continue reading

Posted in politics, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Rolling out Satan

There’s been a lot of discussion recently on the significance or otherwise of what the new pope has had to say about homosexuality. But less about these comments from three years back (via Breitbart): New Pope Francis I is an … Continue reading

Posted in culture, Religion | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments