We are called to clean up our doorstep in this country. To clean away all anti-Semitism, all Islamophobia

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, speech at the Together for Humanity rally in London, 3 December

And if the aim was (as he [Archbishop Welby] protests) to maintain unity, it has anyway failed in its own terms: our archbishop has recently been rejected by a number of African churches as their spiritual leader because — get this — he did not block a recent proposal to give vicars in England the freedom to bless a gay couple if they wanted to. In a futile attempt to accommodate these churches, Welby had abstained

Matthew Parris, article on proposals to reform the Crown Nominations Commission for choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury, The Times, 2 December

What is a problem, and specifically the issue with disrupting worship, is that it breeds a sense of moral superiority. This states that the chosen cause of the individuals puts them above the ordinary norms of society, or in this case above the worship of almighty God

Fergus Butler-Gallie, priest and writer, the Spectator website, 2 December

I have to say that seeing my name in the service order as I came in today made me feel as Pontius Pilate might feel about the Creed: delighted to get a mention, just a bit struck by the implications

The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley, sermon at his installation as Dean of Southwark, 3 December

The challenge of God’s grace to the Church is always whether we can embrace the large opportunities of being generous, instead of small opportunities to be mean

ibid.

I suspect that, even if you are a Treasury Minister, every Autumn Statement feels like a missed opportunity

David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, House of Lords, 29 November

There were things that bothered me at a young age. Like what does it mean if people come into the world as quadriplegics while people say that everything plays out the way it should? Or when you meet people who are severely sociopathic and think, “How’s God fitting into all this?” I’m still trying to figure out the bigger questions

Lana Del Ray, interview, The Sunday Times, 3 December

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