Brendan Walsh

1 month ago | thetablet.co.uk | Brendan Walsh |Liz Dodd |Oliver Letwin |Chris Patten

On 16 May, it was 185 years since our first issue was published, edited by Frederick Lucas, a former Quaker. To mark our birthday, we asked some of our friends and contributors to reflect on their hopes and fears for the next 15 years – in other words, between now and our bicentenary in 2040. Popes don’t change the Church as much as we sometimes imagine, but it feels as if the ground beneath our feet shifted in the Francis era.

1 month ago | thetablet.co.uk | Brendan Walsh

Leo has the Augustinian genius of allowing everyone to have something of what they want … and giving no one everything they think they want. We all noticed the mozzetta and the nod to the “synodal Church”. A smidgeon for everyone. There were nerves, of course, and he didn’t always seem quite sure what to do with his hands. But Leo looked comfortable in his skin.

1 month ago | thetablet.co.uk | Brendan Walsh

“Don’t forget the poor.” These are the words that the Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes famously whispered in the ear of Jorge Mario Bergoglio after his fellow cardinals had elected the Archbishop of Buenos Aires as Pope at the conclave 12 years ago. I confess the words, “Be afraid, be very afraid …” crossed my mind when someone asked me what I would whisper in the ear of the man who enters the conclave of 2025 as a cardinal and emerges as Pope. Friends and colleagues are less jittery.

1 month ago | thetablet.co.uk | Brendan Walsh

Vincent Nichols, 79, the Archbishop of Westminster since 2009 and a cardinal since 2014, has led the Church in England and Wales through a particularly rocky period. A forceful president of the bishops’ conference and a capable and sometimes combative media performer, he has maintained strong relationships with the Church of England and other faith groups, in particular Islam. Views differ over his effectiveness as a political operator and as the administrator of a large archdiocese.

Jan 14, 2025 | thetablet.co.uk | Brian Morton |Brendan Walsh

Although David Lodge, who died on 1 January aged 89, will forever be regarded as a ‘campus novelist’, he was much more than thatAlthough David Lodge, who died on 1 January aged 89, will forever be regarded as a ‘campus novelist’, he was much more than thatRegister for free to read this article in fullSubscribe for unlimited accessFrom just £37.50 quarterly   Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.   Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.