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    The Tablet Magazine 03 September 2022

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    of 34
    AO UT TTS disfarne Gospels return to the northeast CREM OUTIL ‘ \ LAA Sit Francis McDonag j 5 di The Sandinistas | Henry Marsh | Bernadette’s message turn on the Church prepares for death for Britain The confessions of AN. Wilson THE TABLET | WORLD IN CRISt WE ARE VICTIMS OF WEAPONISED GLOBALISATIO: millions — indeed, billions ~ is at risk. But human ingenuity may yet conquer all, and the good times may return. Hope springs eternal. The first step towards such a recovery will be an honest appraisal of what has gone ‘wrong, with bold measures to put itright. In many ways the problems of the United Kingdom area miniature version of problems worldwide. ‘will not recover unless the ‘world recovers Energy, for example. The globalisation of energy supplies has made large parts of the world, including much of Enrope, dependent on unreliable and unstable sources. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has choked off a major supply of gas and oil on which many European economies rely; and under the law of supply and demand, the price of such energy has sky-rocketed global. British consumers have been warned of an 80 per cent increase in the cost of heating their homes and cooking their food. Itis obvious they eannot afford to pay that, while inflation in double figures is undermining incomes across the board. Had previous governments acted sooner and with more foresight, this increase could have been substantially lower. But those governments accepted the received wisdom that ‘market forces could handle such problems better than central planning. And now the ease for direct intervention by government is unanswerable - which is not to say itis inevitable. The eapacity of governments to make bad situations worse should never be underestimated. This may ‘well be demonstrated again, once a new prime minister "unveils his, or more likely her, proposals. Globalisation itself was a standard example of blind faith in market forces, a reliance which became riskier the longer itwent on. The assumption that replacing the command. economies of the Soviet era with free markets would in turn encourage political freedom and the flourishing of civil society has been disproved in the case of both Russia and China. They were integrated into the global economy, but they did not become social democracies. Instead, they have used the economic power globalisation has given them to further restrict the freedoms of their citizens and to escalate tension with the democracies of the West. Rather than becoming more like them, they have been happy to meddle in those democratic systems to try to undermine them. “ot justin one nation or even one continent, storm clouds are visibly gathering and the well-being of lobalisation has been weaponised. Russian gas is the perfect example. And what if China ~ now one ‘of the globe's major industrial powers - were to invade Taiwan? What fit used the stranglehold over Western economies that has been handed to it, to safeguard itself against outside intervention, militarily or economically? Sanetions on China equivalent to those imposed on Russia would be unthinkable. ‘The conclusion has to be that globalisation has failed to ‘make the world freer and more democratic. Instead, it has allowed richer Western economies to outsource their ‘manufacturing to the poor in poorer countries, where wages and safety standards are lower, and production is cheaper and more profitable. And it has put these workers at the mercy of totalitarian regimes for whom market forces Offer no invisible hand, guiding progress to wider prosperity, 2 THETABLET | 5 SEPTEMBER 2022 THE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY FOUNDED IN 1840 just opportunities to exploit them for the interests of the wealthy ‘The fundamentally flawed model of the British energy ‘market, alegacy of the Thatcherite lust for privatisation, is atthe heart of the current cost ofliving crisis. It was left to the alchemy of market forces to render the system more resilient against future supply problems: it was assumed an entrepreneur somewhere would see the profit opportunity and step in to fill the gap. Except none did, Nor did market forces, with their preference for short-term gain, provide an array of brand new nuclear power stations to replace the obsolete plants on which Britain’ electricity supply had come to depend. The water industry tells a similar story, with short-te profit preferred to long-term investment. So it leaks cle ‘water through burst pipes and pumps filthy water into the rivers and the sea, But like gas and electricity, water is natural monopoly. Privatisation required an army of regulators who would try to imagine what profits might have been made had there been true competition. It always ‘was a fallacious policy. Instead it needed central direction, by government ifnecessary, to put the publie interes first. ‘Now renationalisation cannot be ruled out: even a majority of Conservative voters favour it. ruly competitive markets have their place; they ean distribute resources efficiently, drive product improvement and innovation, hold down prices and ensure the distribution of basie goods like food. ‘They ean reward shareholders, many of whom are retired pensioners. There are some things governments do not do ‘well, or should not do at all. But the regulation of markets to prevent outcomes harmful to the public interest is essential. ‘The constant right-wing ery for more deregulation is, perverse and antisocial. Deregulation was even a factor in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 which killed 72 people. ‘These are not purely economic and political issues. They are critical moral issues. Such political and economic failures could have been predicted. Now they are becoming obvious. A “blood transfusion” of basic moral principles is needed to correct these errors ofthe past, including a recovery ofthe idea that states and governments have a duty to protect and enhance the common good which cannot be left to take care of itself ‘That means laying aside ideology and putting the poorest and most vulnerable first. It also means accepting that slobalisation and its underlying theory, neoliberal economies, is not a magic carpet to a promised land but flawed by human nature, as all human endeavours are flawed. Benedict XVI, in his eneyclical Caritas in Veritate after the global financial crisis of 2008-09, warned that free- ‘market globalisation without a moral framework orientated towards the common good of humanity, could have dangerous consequences. “The processes of globalisation,” he declared, “suitably understood and directed, open up the unprecedented possibility of large-scale redistribution of ‘wealth on a worldwide scale; ifbadly directed, however, they can lead to an increase in poverty and inequality, and couild even trigger a global crisis” Has Pope Emeritus Benedict's warning finally been realised? For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit www:thetabletco.uk Melanie ‘McDonagh’s Notebook “Teenagers will assume that the Church equals oppression ~ something to be overthrown’ | 11 Word from the Cloisters 1 ua 7 Letters 5 ‘The Living Spirit_16 For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit wwwithetabletco.uk é le a" .* eT CONTENTS 3 SEPTEMBER 2022 || VOL 276 NO. 9467 nn 4/ The price of submission Bishops in Nicaragua are divided over how to respond to government suppression ‘ofany opposition, including that of the Church / ny FRANCIS McDONAGH. 6 / Ready to leave Facing an advanced cancer, celebrated neurosurgeon and athelst Henry Marsh reflects on what matters most / BY MAGGIE FERGUSSON 9 The girl who said ‘Yes’ ‘The relics oft Bernadette were due to arrive in London yesterday on their fist stop ina tour through England, Scotland and Wales / ny ADAMSINON 10 / The saint of the gutters Mother Teresa died 25 years ago. Despite her image being imprinted on the popular imagination, she remains an enigma | By JON M.SWEENEY 12/ Abiographer’s requiem Novelist and biographer A.N, Wilson says that writing during lockdown about his own life took him in some unexpected directions / BY SUZIFEAY aA 23 / The Church in the World / News briefing 24 | Roche asks if traditionalists are still Catholics 26 | View from Rome 27 | News from Britain and Ireland / News briefing 28 | Solution to climate crisis rests with each of us 30 / Obituary | Metropolitan Kallistos Ware tee ered Pee Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI COO / Pace 18 Anthony Gardner Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to Find ‘Themselves: LUCY LETHBRIDGE, Patrick Hudson Speed Reading: True crime (OG / PAGE 20 Exhibition The Lindisfarne Gospels, LAURA GASCOIGNE Radio Who Are the "22? DI-TAYLOR Theatre Allof Us ‘MARK LAWSON Television ‘The Rings of Power LUCY LETHERIDGE 2 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THETABLET | 3 TURES The Church in Nicaragua TSU} Nicaraguans exiled in Costa Rica protest ulside the cathedral in San Jose The price of submission ‘The Church is divided in how to respond to revolutionary president turned fervent Christian Daniel Ortega's attempt to suppress opposition to his authoritarian rule | By FRANCIS MCDONAGH JHE PERSECUTION of the Church in Nicaragua intensified in the small hours of Friday 19 August when police broke into the residence of Mgr Rolando Alvarez, Bishop of Matagalpa in northern Nicaragua, and took him away with the other clergy and lity who had been block- ded with him for two weeks. Mgr Alvarez ‘was placed under house arrest in his relatives home in Managua while others were taken tothe city’s El Chipote prison, where they are reportedly confined in one cell and denied contact with relatives and friends. According to the lawyer Yader Moraziin, we a secret remand on 22 August The Church authorities are reported as saying: “We don't know how they are, we know nothing, The situation is lamentable: ‘Thesight of Mgr Alvarez kneeling in prayer on the pavement outside his residence has been a dramatic symbol of the brutal treat- ment inflicted on several members of the clergy, which may have been a reason for his removal to a less publie site in Managua, Alvarez, 55, head ofthe Nicaraguan bishops ‘communications department, has been a pub- 4. THE TABLET | 3 SEPTEMBER 2 lic ritic ofthe authoritarian regime headed by President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vive president Rosario Murillo. Heisaccused bythe authorities of trying to “organise violent groups in order to destabilise the state of ‘Nicaragua and attack the constitutional author- ities; although no evidence has been offered. Police claimed they had waited “for several days with great patience, prudence and asense ‘of responsbiiy fora message from the Diooese ‘of Matagalpa, which never eame, and the con- tinuing destabilising and provocative activities made the operation necessary’. Lawyers say that such a raid ona residence uring the night is illegal. In Managua, Mgr Alvarez, was visited by the archbishop, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, who said he was {in good spirits but that his physical condition “had deteriorated’, which may be a result of police refusal toallew food or medical supplies to enter his residence during his detention. Mgr Alvarezis popular in his diocese, and there are videos of him dancing and playing football in community celebrations. He has also never been shy of speaking out against what he believed to be injustices. In 2013 he sfully supported the protests of the rural communities of Rancho Grande in the north-east of Matagalpa against a proposed gold mine. He was also part ofthe bishops’ conference mediation team that negotiated with the government after the bloody repre sion of protests in April 2018, although the ‘government vetoed his participation in sub- sequent talks. Mgr Alvarezis not the only bishop to have been targeted by Ortega. In April 2019, Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Baez, another eritie of Ortega, was told by Pope Francis to leave Nicaragua for his own safety, Several priests have been arrested, Catholic radio stations and a Catholic university shut down; earlier this year the authorities foreed Mother Teresa’s “Missionaries of Charity toeave; and in March the apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua was hounded out of the country. But the perse- ution of the Church is only the latest stage in the repression of opposition, In March thisyear, Nicaragua’ ambassador tothe Organisation of American States, Arturo ‘MeFields, dramatically broke with the regime, labellingita “dictatorship” and asserting that there were more than 177 political prisoners in the country, and that 350 people had lost For more features, news, analysis and comment, vist wwwthetablet.co.uk their ives in protests since 2018. Among the prisoners is Dora Maria Téllez, famously known as “Comandante 2", who was one of the leaders of the assault on the Nicaraguan national assembly in 1978 that helped to over- throw the Somoza dictatorship the following yearand was once Ortegals comrade-in-arms. ‘Another former Sandinista leader, retived ‘general Hugo Torres, who helped to secure (Ortega’s release from prison in 197, ‘was one of several opposition lead- ers jailed in June 2021 in the lead-up to national elections; he died in prison in February this ye The wider background to the present situation is the degeneration of th movement. The tionary impulse attracted broad suppor, including intellectuals such as Sergio Ramirez, the novelist, who was ‘Ortega’ vice president inthe frst Sandinista {government from 1985 to 1990. The initial Junta of National Reconstruction, formed after the victory of the revolution in 1979, also included Violeta Chamorro, who led the sue- cessful opposition to the Sandinistas in the 1990 clections and became president herself In the current climate itis easy to forget ‘that four priests served in the early Sandinista government: Miguel D'Escoto as foreign min ister; Fernando Cardenal as education minister; his brother, the poet Ernesto Cardenal, as minister of culture; and Bdgard Parrales as social welfare minister. Their involvement resulted in suspension from their priestly funetions, and Ernesto Carden: received a public fnger-wagging rebuke when he tried to greet Pope John Patil Tat the tart of his visit to Nicaragua in 1983. The revolutionary government launched a literacy campaign that drastically reduced lit craeyin the country, and abealth programme that reduced infant mortality by half. The US saw the Sandinistas as part ofthe worldwide ‘Communist threat and imposed an economic embargo, and from 1981 supported a rebel ‘army known asthe Contras" These two factors ‘contributed to the defeat of the Sandinistasin ‘the 1990 elections, which in turn exacerbated divisions within the movement. Ablow tothe reputation ofthe Sandinistas was dealt by the so-called pifiata when, in the interval between the 1990 elections and the inauguration of the Chamorro govern- ment, some leading Sandinistas seized estates, vehicles and other property confiscated from the previous elite, Others in the movement, including Ernesto Cardenal, were appalled. In 1994 Ortega removed Sergio Ramirez from hisleadership role. Inthe same year Ernesto ardenal resigned from the Sandinistas, say 1g" My resignation from the FSLN hasbeen caused by the kidnapping ofthe party carried ‘outby Daniel Ortega and the group he heads” Re-elected as president in 2006 - afterrun- ng unsuccessfullyin 1996 and 2001 ~ Ortega. reinvented himself as a Catholic. He had had his marriage solemnised by the previously hostile Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo in 2005 and went on to introduce a strict ban ‘onabortion. The Supreme Court, dominated by Sandinista appointees, changed the law toallowhim tobere-lected, and the National Assembly changed the law to allow indefinite re-election, Before the 2021 elections the regime detained seven opposition presidential candidates. The government has also shut more than 1,600 NGOs There is speculation that the gov- ernment wants Mgr Alvarez to leave the country, which would beless embarrassing than hav detention. ‘Commentators argue that the bishops’ conference should be more forceful in his defence. According to former education minister Humberto Belli: “It would be a surrender tothe government to agree that the bishop should leave Nicaragua” Pope Francis spoke for the first time about thessit uation in Nicaragua at the Angelus on 21 August, but did not mention Mgr Alvarez ~ ‘or even the Church. “I am following closely, with concern and sorrow, the situation in ‘Nicaragua, which involves both people and institutions” the Pope declared. “I would like to express my convietion and my hope that, ‘through open and sincere dialogue, the basis fora respectful and peaceful coexistence can still be found.” Tewould appear that the Pope is following the cautious line of the bishops’ conference. ‘The conference is divided. While Mgr Alvarez ‘was blockaded in his residence, the Bishop ‘of Leén, Mgr René Sandigo, was taking part in ceremoniesalongside the local Sandinista ‘mayor. Meanwhile, the exiled Mgr Silvio Baez insisted in a sermon the same day in Miami ‘or Mgr Rolando Alvarer, for the priests of Matagalpa.. and forall the political prisoners, ‘we have toask for their release. There can be no negotiation about these people because they are innocent.” Cardinal Brenes did not attend the eonsistory that began in Rome on 27 August. No reason was given for his, absenee, According to analyst Elvira Cuadra, Ortega wants “a submissive Church’: This evidently ‘means a Church that limits its statements to religious matters and avoids outdoor gatherings ‘that might allow people to discuss freely; on the Feast of the Assumption, the authorities tried to prevent processions in honour of Our Lady: Itis to be hoped thatthe church author- in Nicaragua and Rome, have weighed carefully the eos of accepting such restrictions ‘The record of previous attempts at dialogue between cv society andthe Ortega government _gives few grounds for optimism. The price paid bya submissive Church may well be high. Francis McDonagh writes for The Tablet on Latin American affair, TABLET WEBINARS Notre Dame University Australia, journeying together COMA MRO UMCORS UICC LA Dee E\Oe Le Froese one Kole yan aphsopherand conte S36 mehbihop hixopy on heey For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit www.thetablet.co.uk Frevoraton lg, Cermoyee preset te OES THETABLET | 5 ATURES | Henry Marsh As the celebrated neurosurgeon, atheist and campaigner for assisted dying faces his own death, he reflects on what matters most: honesty, humility, serving his patients and building a doll's house for his grandchildren / By MAGGIE FERGUSSON Ready to leave jeurosurgeon Henry Marshis 2014 best- seller, Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Sungery,a mixture of memoir and reflection that plunges readers into the world of brain tumours, strokes and head injuries that Marsh has inhabited for 40 years. Ibis ‘awworld in which life is so fragile and uncertain you'd think it would serveas a daily memento ‘mor foranyone working in t, Noto. Recently retired, 71-year-old Marsh has been diagnosed, ‘with advanced prostate cancer, and the switeh from surgeon to patient, and the prospect of death, has come as a profound shock. And Finally, published this month, isin part acry ‘ofanguish: “My wish to go on living” he writs, “is as overwhelming as love at first sight.” ‘But meeting Marsh at his house ~ an unas- suming nineteenth-century semi in ‘Wimbledon, south London - he seems the ‘opposite oflugubrious. With a plummy accent, Harry Poter-ish glasses and a forehead deeply furrowed by deeades spent probing and peer ing deep into the white jelly of brains, he ‘welcoming and humorous, and radiates rest- less energy. We begin our interview in his kkitehen, with the Ukrainian family to whom hes given sanctuary wandering in and out. But i's not long before he suggests that we walk down hislong, lsh garden, past his bee- hives, tis workshop. Ths looks ikea potting shed but isin facta charmed lair filled with thousands of tool, including three lathes, a radial arm savy, abandsaw and aspindle moul- der. Marsh has always taken pleasure in creating his own staircases tables, roofs and garden fences. Uninterested in money, he says hed "far rather make things than buy things” HAVE often cut into the brain and itis something I hate doing.” So begins ‘THEURGE to se his hands goes back towhen he wasasmal boy in Oxford, the fourth child of highly principled parents. His father was ‘ahuman rights lawyer, his mother a refugee from Nazi Germany who had refused to join ‘the women’s branch of Hitler Youth. "It has always,’ he says, “been part of my DNA to make the world a better place.” And so, for many years, he eombined being a consultant neurosurgeon at St George's Hospital in south London with pro boro workin Nepal, Albania, and Ukraine, When he frst flew out to Kyiv, in the winter of 192, he was appalled by its Droken-down, bankrupt medical system, Since ‘then, he has organised hundreds of shipments ‘of wooden trunks (made in his own workshop) 6 | THETABLET | 3 SEPTEMBER 2072 filled with equipment no longer required by the NHS. And he has himself made regular visits to Ukraine to practise neurosurgery, and tohand on to younger doctors skills including ‘awake craniotomy”, a procedure he has pio- neered in which patients remain fully awake and sitting up during surgery. Brains, he explains fee! no pain, soonee he's slit through the scalp all that a patient suffers isthe exera- cating squeal of the saw as teutsinto the skull. When Marsh began his work in Ukraine, he was told he shouldn't bother. What he could achieve would be just “a drop in the ‘ocean’ I think of Mother Teresa who was once told the same thing, and replied: “The ocean ismade up of drops” Whether Marsh would thank me for comparing him to Mother ‘Teresa, Tm not sure. He is adamantly unre- ligious: “Though my parents were both believers as far as [remember I never believed in God, not even fora moment. Itnever made any sense to me,” Neurosurgery has calcified his unbelief First, there's the problem of su fering, to which his work has exposed him daily. How could a loving God allow it? Then there’ the fact that “ifyou regularly see people ‘whose personalities have been profoundly changed for the worse through no fault of their own because of a head injury, its very hhard tobelieve in an afterlife": afterall, which “T" will pass on to Heaven, or hell? ‘Would he like to believe ina life after death, I wonder? “No, not particulaely. There’ a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch in which they've gone up to heaven - they're wrapped in white sheets, holding golden harps. And Pete says: ‘Ooooh it's lovely here, Dud. Look at them choirs of angels’ And Dud says: Yes, but does anything ever appen?” Henry Marsh ‘would not thrive in an eternity of boredom, ‘And there’ a degree to which no imaginable heaven could seem more marvellous than ‘what he’ known on Earth. In looking down ‘a microscope into a patient's brain, he says, he enters a realm clearer, sharper and more brilliant than the world outside. And the notion that his sucker - the brain surgeon’ principal tool - then moves through thought itself, through emotion and reason, memories and dreams, is strange and magical Iwonder whether he has ever been inspired by faith in others. “No. Though I've been inspired by religious works of art ~ particulary, pethaps, bythe music of Buch” And are any of his colleagues in neurosurgery believers? "No. There is much about the brain we don't understand, he admits ~ nobody knows how ‘consciousness arises, and from where ~ but ‘we do know that we are essentially just “the complex electrochemical interaction of milions ‘ofneurons. And that makes it highly improb- able that we have souls. Our sense of self, our feelings, our thoughts, ourlove for others, our hopes and ambitions all die when we die: IF WEARE no more than bundles of cleetro- chemical chatter, do we have fre will? “Hmm, Tm a determinist: I believe every decision I ‘make must have something before it, Forthat reason I'm very concerned with crime and punishment in the UK and the US. We know, for example, that an extraordinary number ‘of young offenders have had a head injury. ‘We know that almost all of them have very low IQs. So the idea that they are intrinsically evil... [don't buy. Butdo Thelieve in respon- sibility? Yes, Ido. We need to judge people as responsible for their actions, while taking into account mitigating circumstances” ‘Marsh has a highly tuned sense of respon- For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit www:thetablet.co.uk on ¥ j sibility: for his family, his patients and his health. For years he has gone on long runs ‘every day, lifted weights and done press-ups ‘to try tokeep ageing, and particularly demen- tia, at bay. Buthe is also adamant that when death approaches, we must accept it. In an age of ever-lengthening life expectaney, he says, doctors are more and more inclined to ‘reat death as ust another treatable condition, entering into a ‘folie it dewe where they and their patients eannot bear reality’ But Marsh strongly resists keeping people going when they are no longer able to live full. In Do No Farm he deseribes visiting a home run by Catholic nuns for people with catastrophic brain damage. The devout staff did not accept the gravelesson of neuroscience = that everything we are depends upon the physical integrity of our brains. Instead, their ancient faith in an immaterial human soul ‘meant that they could create a kind and caring hhome for these vegetative patients. To his ds may, walking past the patients’ rooms, h recognised the names of ive former patients, The firm belief that life is finite makes Marsh determined to live it well. His gen- ‘erosity and deep sense of service make him, surely, one of Karl Rahner's “anonymous Christians”, He accepts that “you can reach the same ethical conclusions as Christians ‘without God” ~ particularly when it comes to forgiveness and repentance. He once oper- ted on child who bled to death, “and after the operation the mother consoled me ~ for- sgave me, Itwas one ofthe most deeply moving ‘moments in my life” Marsh is a showman, an extrovert, but he is in some ways a tortured soul. There are myriad people from whom he feels the need to ask forgiveness, What he described as his “obsession with neurosurgery and long work- ing hours and self-importance" led to abitter divorce from his frst wife after 25 years. The many operations that have gone wrong “parade before me like ghosts’: Most neuro- surgeons’ lives, he believes, “are punctuated by deep despair”: He writes his books partly to caution younger neurosurgeons, particularly against arrogance and complacency. ‘$0 HE IS often startlingly honest and humble. He describes, for example, operating on a man's neck fora trapped nerve. Walking awa from theatre, he realised he had operated on the wrong side. As the operation had been done through a midline incision, his mistake ‘would never have been picked up on a post- surgical scan. Nevertheless, he felt compelled to fess up. Such high standards of integrity, 1 suggest, must make recent politcal scandals cenraging, “Yes, ve found itvery difficult, peo- pleat the top lying all the time.” Has age brought wisdom? “I think it has though because of the material nature of thought it may be that the emotional circuits in my brain are just burned out. But one of the good things about getting older is that people get happier.” In his own ease, he feels in retirement “more complete, a more intact, human being”. Why? “Because when you're ‘doctor youhave to cut yourself of from your patients to be able to do your job. You can't ‘reat them as human beings, and T hated that” {occurs to me thatthe involved detachment PASTORAL REVIEW WEBI he describes is a quality most priests strive for, but I dont say so.) ‘The great joy of Marshis life now are his three granddaughters, aged eight, five and four. He shows me the dolls house he is build- ing for the youngest, Lizzie: an astonishing creation about 4ft tall and filled with mar- «quetry floors, minute sash windows and teeny ‘curving staircases, most of think of Marsh asa pre-eminent surgeon, tohisgranddaugh- ters he must surely seem a magician. But retirement has also given him time to throw himself nto campaigning, principally favour of assisted dying. As patron of My Death, My Decision, he recently backed & group of more than 50 MPs and peers who have written a joint letter to (the former) Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, arguing that the UK’s laws on assisted dying have fallen behind the rest of the world. “Its like say marriage, it will comein the end” he says, ‘wearily. “As things stand, any patient close to death can refuse further treatment. Soif were allowed to sa, Td rather die than go on living, why can’t we decide when or where?” Why, Task is this country lagging behind? “Senior palliative eare doctors are all Christians, and are fanatically opposed to assisted dying. But their arguments - that it devalues life; that ittthestart of slippery slope that will allow families to bump off tiresome elderiy relations ~areeffectively hypothetical Are these things happening in countries where it’ legal? No, because there are strict safeguards” “Many Catholics choose to believe, like Pope John XI, that death is “as easy and natural as going to sleep here and waking up there’ Butafteralifetime observingit dose up, Marsh insists that “only rarely death easy"\A number (of doctors he knows have taken themselves off to Dignitas, but he won't need to do this. Hidden somewhere in his house is a suicide kitand, ifand when he decides his time’ up, aafriend has promised to help ensure it does the trick. Meantime, he tres not to dwell too :muchon theend. But when it comes, he hopes to be “ready to leave, booted and spurred’. ‘Maggie Fergusson is The Tablets literary editor NAR What does servant leadershiplook like in the Church today? Join im MeManus, Clare Watkins and Raymond Friel fora discussion of vocation and professionalism in cer Wednesday 19 October 2022, 19:00 - 20:00 BST For more features, news, analysis and comment, vist wwwthetablet.co.uk and lay, and the links between the two. Fesel 3 SEPTEMBER 2 ‘THE TABLET 7 ian Oe CAMB E LO SO ERM cw sre »} The Cambridge Cornerstone Bible ESV-CE Catholic ge. E crowds, because they held him rel org rophet. Edition ea 2 And again Jesus spoketto them parables, saying, "The kin Bin ROU olale(* (ROTC =) RU oe oe ial a) of heaven Standard Version Catholic Edition. It includes all ing ene tae vee 73 books of the Bible accepted by the Catholic invited to the wedding feast, but they W eee nen aes me. “Again he sent other servants, ell those who are invited, “See, MR en Rg eRe a) Eee a eR ice an oue ee tao eee ee ae Reel OCCU, Peat eae a UR aa eae eet Ee eee tek Raa Renta oe Mes eer Ue acer ee ees ene Pac ne Rael teens Ee oie Roe BU Rca cena Ure times Ta es Seo Meno Saree Un ae] Piao To eae geo See SMe Ot EUR ac oA) Black faux leather (Yea moll meson soKele) eter Maca eg a 978-1-009-08739-1 | £70.00 Black cowhide 978-1-009-08738-4 | £115.00 CAMBRIDGE Bi ROSAS SUB eet) www.cambridge.org PO era ea Ce eye standard-version/esv-ce-cornerstone-text-bible FEATURES | Bernadette in Britain ‘The relics of St Bernadette were due to arrive in London at the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Fulham, yesterday on their first stop ina tour through England, Scotland and Wales / By ADAM SIMON, The girl who said ‘Yes’ NE OF the most unassuming of saints, Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes said thatthe Vingin Mary hhad chosen herto bea broom and, when her job was finished, she was to be put back into the eupboard. After making sure she had done what Our Lady had asked of het, Bemadette entered the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers odo her novitiate, hhidden from the tsunami of pilgrimage and faith which she had unleashed. Itistime forherto be brought her out of the cupboard in the joy £ ofthe two-month tour of her 3 relies around Britain. © Thefoundationofthe“Relc £ Tour" isevangelical-toallow = Bernadette to remind usofthe = message of Lourdes and to reawaken the faith of those who encounterher relics. Ata meeting in Lourdes last year, the rector ofthe sanetuary asked visiting directors of UK pilgrimages how people might be brought back to Lourdes past-Covid. Fr Dennis Tou parish priest of St Thomas of Canterbury, Fulham, and director of the Westminster pilgrimage, replied: “Please send us Bemadete’ relics” ‘Bernadette was born in Lourdes, a market town in the Pyrenees, in 1844, the eldest of. four children. She did not compose any spir- itual writings, did not found a religious order and did not die a martyr’s death, She was a ‘messenger. She faithfully passed on the words ‘which she received from the "beautiful Lady" who appeared to her in the grotto of ‘Massabielle, remote cave on theedgeof the town, between 11 February and 16 July 1858 {in 18 apparitions. Through the call to peni- tence, to pilgrimage and to build anew church, Bernadette and the message of Lourdes revived the Church in France and beyond, and sill does so today, with six milion visitors and pilgrims eoming to the grotto every year Bernadette isthe saint of saying "Yes" The ‘turning point in her life was her response to the Lady’srequest to come tothe grotto each day fortwo weeks She did not hesitate, despite ‘knowing that she would get into trouble with her family and with the people of Lourdes ‘when she told them what she had seen, and about the message she needed to pass on to For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit wwwithetablet.co.uk the world. She is very similar to Our Lady, ‘whom we venerate for her response to the angel and for her part in our salvation. Bernadette’ example encourages us to unlock the “Yes" in our hearts and obey God's will. Saying "Yes" gives the believer innerstrength to face lifes challenges. On the numerous ‘occasions that Bernadette was questioned and pressurised by police, prosecutors and the clergy, “I promised the Lady” was all she had to say. = Bernadette was transformed in the presence of the Lady. “She ‘was smiling and had a beautifl face, more beautifal than any Thad everseen’,ishowalocal miller, Antoine Nicolau put it, He was one of many wit- nesses who observed Bernadette contemplating the Lady who appeared to her. Whenever she recounted the story of the apparitions, notably when she re~ enacted the moment when the Lady revealed hername “Tam the Immaculate Conception” ~ Bernadette’ inner beauty shone through. ‘This is what moved Mgr Laurence, the local bishop at the time, when he witnessed her siving her testimony. “Did you see that child?” he said as two tears rolled down his checks. "This s Bemadette’ message for our world: iffwe treasure the beauty of the inner if, the life of prayer and of service, we too will be transformed. In Lourdes today, you can dis- cover this extraordinary beauty in the faces ‘of the pilgrims as they serve each other or sit in silent prayer in the peace ofthe grotto. Temadette showed exemplary courage both ecame Bernadette’ staunchest ally and one ‘ofthe people outside her family she mostloved. BERNADETTE WAS kind. She remained poor and simple throughout her life. She was fun, as many testified. She lived life true to the pel and pat up with great physical suffering with dignity and faith, dying in 1879 froma painfal form of tuberculosis, aged 35. Thirty years later, her body was exhumed and was found to be intact. In the chapel in Nevers ‘where hermortal remainslie, there isa peace like thatin the grotto. In1933, she was eanon- ised. Bernadette isthe saint of saying “Yes', ‘with courage, in small and simple ets, which hhave huge consequences beyond what we can ceverimagine. Our“Yes"may have more modest ‘outcomes, butas she is taken out ofthe eup- board we ean point young people othe beauty ‘and purpose of Bernadette life of faith ‘After leaving Lourdes in 1866 to become a nun, Bernadette never returned. “Every day 1 go in my mind to the grotto and make my pilgrimage there,’ she used tosay. Ifa visit to the relies awakens a desire to go to Lourdes, asFr Dennis Touw hopes the Relie Tourweb- site indicates ways of going, with links to 37 diocesan and other pilgrimage associations. ‘The fruit of Bernadette’ life ean be found in the way we live our lives, but in special way in her beloved grotto, ‘Adam Simon isthe author of Bernadette of Lourdes: Pilgrimage Into the Heart of Jesus. Holy Land Pilgrimage Exclusive to readers of he Tablet 17-24Noveriber 2022 ith sptitual by Margaret Hebblethwaite — Depart Luton from £1,895. Depart Manchester fromEV975 Pilce includes: flghts from London Luton or Manchester to Tel Av including baggage allowance, four nights tthe Golden Walls Hotel in Jerusalem three nights tthe Fon Beach Hotel n Tiberias, Masson three days, all meas, airport transfers and excursion prograrnme with local Chistian guide. Also included are gratultis to guide, diver, hotel ndrestaurantstaftSingleroom supplement:€445. Tabook your place contact McCabe Pilgrimages on: - Telt020 8675 6826 malt fYoucabe-vovelcouk 4 SEPTEMBER 2022 THETABLET | 9 ‘ATURES | Mother Teresa of Kolkata The saint of the gutters Mother Teresa died 25 years ago, on 5 September 1997. The first saint of the media age, whose image is firmly imprinted in the popular imagination, she remains an enigma / By JON M. SWEENEY OST HUMAN beings livingin the last quarter of the twentieth century knew her by name and ‘appearance. Most people could identify her as the saint of the gutters of Kolkata, She was regularly named as one of | the most recognised and influential people in the world. In the United States, two years after her death, she topped a CNN/USA Today Gallup poll as “the most admired person of the century” ahead of Dr Mastin Luther King ‘it; President John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein land Helen Keller. ‘So what is there left for her latest biographer to say about her? Quite abit, as it tums out. ‘The stories of both her public and privat lives remain little known. And we are still grappling with the extraordinary things she did, as well as the way that she interpreted the vocation of a Christian “Mother Teresa striking physical appearance remains vivid in my memory always included the sari ~ the traditional outer garment of ‘women of the Indian subcontinent - that she chose as the religious uniform of the congre- ‘tion she founded in 1950: simple white cotton bordered with three blue stripes. She apparenty purchased the first ones “off the rack” at a Calcutta market, the blue edges suggesting to her the Virgin Mary. She was small in stature, Dut fiercely strong, Do an internet search and you will not find a single photograph of her ‘appearing weary, winded or (outside moments of prayer) at rest. Yet when we saw her face or watched her at work with children and the dying ~ which was easy to do, since she was the first great saint in the era of ubiquitous television - we had no idea ofthe things going ‘on within her. (Other things become clear ifyou study the photographs or look closely atthe videos and documentaries. She had large hands for a ‘woman her size. She stood a mere 5ft tall in sandals. For comparison, the diminuitive Gandhi was Sin taller, She had coarse, working Jhands, and she was a hugger, particularly of ‘infants. She would pull children tightly to her cheek, one arm undemeath the torso, the other ‘propping up the neck, the way a natural mother does. joyous smile was common on her face. She used to instruct her fellow Missionaries ‘of Charity: ‘When I see someone sad, [always think, she is refusing something to Jesus” 10 | THETABLET | 3 SEPTEMBER 2022 " Mother’: her mission was to help the poor, starving and suffering of Kolkata ‘The images are difficult to forget and easy tofind, yet though her storys so well known, wwe don't really know her. She died in 1997, and to the Catholic faithful she is revered, land her role as an advoeate in Heaven ungues” tioned, in the way that only a couple of other saints of the twentieth century ~'Thérése of Lisieux and Padre Pio ~ have been regarded, POPE JOHN PAUL I was instrumental in shaping Mother Teresas life and legacy. His fatherly presence, his own ubiquity in the global ‘media, devotion to the promotion of living embodiments of faith, and the priority he placed on promoting saintsand sainthood, in significant measure made Mother who she ‘wasand is. Many people till refer to her simply as "Mother" because that’s what her fellow ‘Missionaries of Chasity sisters and those who knew her best, ineluding people on thestreets ‘of Kolkata, most often called her. She signed her letters with that single word and often referred to herself the third person that way. ‘She first appeared on the international stage {n 1969, when the English journalist, presenter and recent convert to Christianity, Malcolm Muggeridge, took a film crew to Kolkata to interviewer. He then became Mother's most aanlent supporter. Asifto puta top to pursuits such as mine, he wrote:"The wholly dedicated like Mother Teresa do not have biographies. Biographically speaking, nothing happens to ‘them. Tolivefor, and in, others, as she and the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity do, is to ‘liminate happenings, which are a factor of the ego and the will” The documentary that Muggeridge produced, Something Beautiful _for God, changed everything for hee workin Tndiaand throughout the world, In large part, it was Muggeridge who made his own pro” nouncement untrue. Her life was absolutely ‘eventful. She was often atthe eentre of issues ‘of the day. Infact, she put herself there, and she spent many, many days among the other ‘most powerful people inthe world. Thisisalso ‘why we continue to be fascinated by her story. T knew of her famous friendship, later in her life, with Diana, Princess of Wales, who first came to visit Mother in Rome in 1992. Diana was support allover the world, often infront of television ‘cameras, She was also looking for spiritual For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit www:thetablet.co.uk MELANIE McDONAGH’S NOTEBOOK direction, perhaps even anew religious home. Diana had already sat at the bedsides of patients suffering from HIV/Aids and in 1987 famously held the hand of a man suffering from the still misunderstood disease, to help remove its stigma. She also had visited leprosy hospitals in far-reaching places such as Indonesia before she made her way to Mother, ‘Diana’sextramarital affairs were also public ‘knowledge by this time. No one knows what she and Mother discussed for the near-hour they spent together that winter day in Rome, ‘much of it together alone in the chapel. In a handwritten note to her butlerand confidante Paul Burrell, Diana said: “Today something. really profound touched my life. I went to ‘Mother ‘Teresas home and found the direction Tve been searching for all these ye ‘Motherlast saw Diana on 18 June 1997, in ‘New York City. The Princess visited her at the ‘Missionaries of Charity home in the Bronx. At one point, she stepped out into the open ‘with Mother, so that the two might be pho- tographed together, and the contrast between them was striking: Diana, with a beautifial tan ina light cream suit and black and white ‘pumps, appeared on the sidewalk a foot taller ‘than Mother in her usual sari ‘THEPREVIOUS 12 monthshad beena time of constant physical breakclown for Mother. She fell and broke her collarbone in April. Two ‘months later, she broke her foot. Pneumonia and a flare of malaria continued the assault into the summer. Then in November 1996, at the age of 86 and with her heart already weak- ‘ened from two open-heart surgeries, the second ‘of which resulted in a pacemaker, she had ‘open-heart surgery fora third time, in Kolkata, toremove twoartery blockages. That she sur vived al of this was somewhat miraculous in the eyes of her disciples and admirers around ‘the world who were praying for her But she was never tobe flly recovered. In ‘March 1997, she finally stepped down from her leadership position in her religious congregation. (0n.26 August she celebrated her 87th birthday. Justa few days ater, on 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales did inacar accident in Paris ‘One woek after that, on § September, at just before 8 pan. at home in Kolkata, Mother com- plained of chest pains, Physicians were called, Dut there was little they could do other than ‘makeher comfortable. She died about 90 min- ‘utes late, with many of her sisters around her. Itwas her fourth heart attack. India honoured, hee with astatefuneral~the sort ofnationwide solemn oeeasion usually reserved for Gandhis ‘and Nehrus. Butin many partsof the world her ‘death was overshadowed by the intrigue and fascination surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Twenty-fiveyears on, litlehas changed. Jon M. Sweeney isan award-winning spiritual writer and author of more than 30 books, including The Pope Who Quit and The Pope's Cat, a popular fiction series for children, Teresa of Calcutta: Dark Night, Active Love willbe published on 15 September by Liturgical Press at £15.99 (Tablet price £14.39). Teenagers will assume that the Church equals oppression - something to be overthrown ONEOF THE gmptoms ofthe pervasive secularism of the times is the way religion and the ETE clergy are depicted in children’ books. Fist there was Philip Pullman’ caricature in His Dark ‘Materials of the Church as the “Magisterium’ ~ conveniently relocated to Geneva so s to get Calvinism in his sights too which was the nearest thing Te come across toa moder take on the ‘wopes of the Reformation, complete swith a fanatical Hispanic clerical assassin, Now another author much ‘admire, Jonathan Stroud, has anew series in which religion constitutes the ‘omnipotent villain ofthe piece, The Notorious Searlet and Browone Here the two youngheroes ofthe stories enjoy a Robin Hood existence, robbing from the rich to give to the poor, ‘while keeping a it aside for themselves. Browne has a useful superpower, in that hhecan read other people’ minds, which, you might say, gives him an unfair ‘ndvantage over the competition were it not that there are others of his kind out there, Searett isthe young Annie Oakley other day. Their escapades have the redeeming element of wealth redistribution, with the institution they are robbing being something called the Faith Houses. Thsis the combination of every kind of organised religion from Christianity to Shintoism, thus removing the specific anti-popery; but itis authoritarian, grasping and merciless. Itisto the society ofthe time ~an odd version of England, recovering from an ‘unnamed Cataclysm - what the Catholic ‘Church once was to the Protestant imagination, namely, the source ofall ‘oppression. When Searlett and her little brother make their way toa town after theirhome was destroyed, it was the Faith House Mentors ~the Stroud version of priests - who hound them as ‘outsiders and aberrants Thisis, of course an inversion of reality: In the real world, of which Jonathan Stroud, himself delightful rman, must be aware, itis religious charities andthe likes of Mother Teresa’ Missionaries of Charity who await refuges and give aid tothe destitute. ‘The wealth ofthe Faith Houses, based presumably on the model of the medieval monasteries, woud, inthe original version, have been accompanied byalms and sanctuary-giving snot For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit wwwithetabletco.uk {usta skewed take on religion; it’ the ‘opposite oft “And thisis the version ofthe Chureh which teenage readers willbe eonsuming along with a cracking story Jonathan Stroud isabriliant storyteller but he's reached forthe easiest trope of ll for his villains in these books. This will be one riore reason why teenagers, many of ‘whom never actually encounter the Church ora pres, wil reflesively assume that Church equals oppression ‘equals something tobe overthrown, and ‘thus why priests will be met with reflex hostiliy Incidentally, Scarlets two instinctive ejaculations are“Christ! and “Shival’ She herself finds meditating on a prayer mat, Spiritual but not religious, then INTERESTINGLY, there was an ‘example of faith in action last Sunday ‘when L attended Mass in Norwich at the Catholic cathedral. On the way back, ‘crossing the pedestrian bridge, Teame across a disturbance, There was a man almost frothing at the mouth, surrounded by people who'd plainly ‘come from chureh, and being held back ‘with difficulty by another man, presumably another member of the ‘congregation. He had been caught as he ‘yas about to throw himself of the bridge. In a naughty worl, it was remarkable how many people stopped. ‘There was the hero who restrained the ‘man, another who called the police, and the people who spoke kindly to him, asking him his name, and soothing him. Eventually, he collapsed and helpers propped him up. Id say most of those ‘who helped had come straight from Mass; itwas exaetly what religion ~ the thing that binds us together - ought to beabout. NORWICH cathedral is exemplary in ‘other ways besides its beautifil building. ‘There are candles in frontoflots of statues, including St Dominic, and the ceanlle boxes say simply: Donations for ‘Candles, thereby allowing people to pay wha they can, my parish churn Ireland a candle costs 25, cents; in my parish in London, 50p. There’ something funny going onhere. ‘Melanie MeDonagh sajournalistand write, 2 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE TABLET | 11 ATURES | The Tablet nterview UIE ON requiem The novelist and biographer te IES a0 2m UM SLUT Ee TIO OOO STR Uaton cece cato ns ing: pink shit, braces and, Thave no [doubt, smart trousers even if out of view: In the opening pages of his memoir Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises he recalls the verdict of ayoung female colleague at The Spectator, where he was literary editor: “Lean imagine tearing off hs three-piece suit only to find another three-piece suit beneath” Novelist, critic, columnist, historian, biogra- pher of Darwin, Queen Victoria, CS. Lewis and Tolstoy, he has turned to his own life for the first time, although he's written “mem- things in the past, such as an account of his friendship with Iris Murdoch. Confessions was, he explains, a project born ‘unexpectedly during the pandemic. “Iwas having awalkon Hampstead Heath when I met [publisher] Robin Baird-Smith and he said, ‘Why don'tyou write your mem- oir?’ I thought that was a very good project for alockdawn because you don'thave to do any research.” Al the same, his initial reaction was to decline. “I said, I can't possibly because it ‘would upset everybody in my family. About week later, [thought well, it will, but stil ‘want to write the book. Being a newspaper columnist is avery good training for becoming aan autobiographer, because you have to bea VEN ON holiday A.N. Wilson is ‘smartly dressed for our Zoom meet 12 | THE TABLET | 3 SEPTEMBER 2022 biteallous to write about yourself Somebody's always going to be upset about something” ‘Structuring the work proved a technical challenge. “What I found interesting was arrangement - obviously itean’t just start at the beginning and end at the end. It's got to be vaguely chronological, but it’s also got to contain lash-forwards all the time, otherwise it would be very ploddy. And of course the dialogue is in a sense made up, because I didn't have a tape recorder: Tobserve that being too introspective, grap~ pling with tough memories during the lockdown, could be a risky endeavor “Twas surprised, when ITowered the bucket {nto the well, by how much came up, hesays “Lthought it was going to be a much lighter book than it turned out to be. I didn't think Twould mention my marriage at all and it ‘tured out tobe alot about my fled marriage. 1 also didn't particularly think there would >be much about unhappy things in my child- ‘hood. In fact, itwas mainly about my parents! ‘unhappiness. I thought it was going to be a ‘much more aneedotal, o frivolous litle book” Confessions opens with a poignant visit to his former wife, theeminent Shakespearean scholar Katherine Dunean-Jones, now suf- fering from dementia. After much reerimination and fury, a kind of peace has been achieved between them, They wed while she was a don and he was still an Oxford undergraduate, Two children appeared in swift sticeession ~ the writers Bee Wilson and Emily Wilson - but the marriage was troubled from the start, with Wilson boiling with resentment at being robbed of carefree stu- dent existenee, “In the frst draft there wasnt anything about the marriage, and then little by little... I don't go to see Katherine very ‘often now because she’s so far gone, but in ‘those days I was going every week, and it just ‘seemed obvious to start with that.” HIS PARENTS also had a marriage mis- matched in age and_ temperament. Chain-smoking fast-car aficionado Norman ‘Wilson rose to become the works manager ‘ofthe Wedgwood pottery firm, second in eom- ‘mand to Josiah Wedgwood V; “Uncle Jos” to the young Andrew Wilson and his older brother and sister, His mother, Jean, sickly and nervous, seemed quickly to regret the liaison, not least on spiritual grounds. “As a young child Iwas being brought up by some- ‘one who wasn’t my mother because my mother was so ill ~ Blakie Chis nurse]. She was a Catholic, [went to a Catholie school. 1 ‘was completely programmed when the Blessed Sacrament went past to think itwas God himself going past. And there's always, going to be a bit of me that believes that. At the same time, my father was a rationalist atheist, a sort of Richard Dawkins-type of person who thought it was a load of baloney: Inthemiddle oft all was my mother, faithful Anglican who went to church every week’ Thet thatled to some doctrinal disputes at the dinner table. fs. Furious! Almost every time my mother ‘came back from the Anglican Mass there ‘would be a row: There would either be some ‘caustic questioning, did she actually believe that x,y and 2, or there would be silly com- plaints about the bacon and eggs being late” His father comes acrossas an eccentric out ‘of the pages of Wodehouse or Waugh, espe- cially with regard to his lifelong obsession With the extended Wedgwood family, regaling anyone he encountered with anecdotes ba ‘ling to the uninitiated. It was wonderful to ‘watch him in action because he could go up to almost anyone in a erowded bar of cafe and within minutes he'd have got them lis tening to some story about the Wedgwood family, of whom of course they’d never heard” He doubles up with laughter at the memory. TALL AND austerelooking -in his recent lit: ‘erary memoir, Creu of Dreams, John Walsh describes him as having, “the face of a saint painted by Carlo Crivelli’ - Wilson has always ‘cutan elegant figure in literary London. One ‘of the startling revelations of his book is that he suffered from anorexia during his twenties, an affliction he atributes to the stress of his marriage. His mother, too, was anorexic. “L ‘simply could not eat. The smell of food terrified me. Ifsomebody asked me out for a eup of tea, that was fine, but as soon as a bun was produced, abject terror eame over me. I was, ‘cured, as I say in the book, by hypnotherapy. For more features, news, analysis and comment, vist wwwthetablet.co.uk Otherwise Tim sure I would have died. I was down to eight stone. I'm half an inch away from six foot -Iwas askeleton” Atthe time, ‘anorexia was seen as the province of teenage Bil. “The doctors talked about it, but nobody else. It was never mentioned at home” Jean’sown cure points to an intriguing psy- chological affinity between mother and son. Like hisillness,itseemed to bea marital aflie- tion, and it took Norman's death for Jean to resolve her issues with food. “As soon as she ‘was a widow she was fine. I mean, she had funny litle snacky meals and she was always ateetpallerand she was weird, but she became aperfetly sane person after she was widowed” Another surprise is the sheer quantity of love-pangs for various young women, mostly veiled in gentlemanly fashion (for a“beautifal ‘Somervillian’ for example). One “embarrass- ing erush” was Nigella Lawson, during her stintas fiction reviewer for the Speccie’."We used to spend hours,” he writes, “sitting in Bertorelli in Charlotte Street, staring at one another... we never drank anything stronger than Ribena.” Deliciously delicate barbs are scattered throughout the pages: “Nigella, des- tined to be famed as a gastronomic genius, never ate anything except mashed potato and never mentioned the subject of food” One of the funniest sections concerns ‘Wilsons time in an Anglican seminary of such rampant campness that in afterlife he had to be eareful not to address a passing bishop by their former nickname of Deidre or Maul Iteanbeditfcultto follow the hokey-cokey of his oscillations between Canterbury and Rome. He bridles a litle when Laskifhe’ a candidate fora “deathbed conversion “I dontt need a deathbed conversion, Fm completely Christian in my outlook notin my behavious {don't really mind who's at my deathbed Tm not ike Cordelia in Brideshead Revisited ityon don' havea priest at your deathbed you! go tohel I dont believe that. But about 10 years ago I had a long conversation with Crispian Holi, the chaplain at Oxford when used tobe a practising Catholic, and Tsai ‘Do you think I should come back?’ And he said: ‘Leave it toa deathbed eonversion! I ‘thought that was very funny” LESS HAPPILY, he recalls an incident with Crispian's father Christopher, a Conservative MP and the author ofa history of the Jes “Weldall come to hear him talk. A young man «from the north of England said to him, Tt ‘must have been fascinating when you were a student because Father Ronald Knox was the chaplain, I would have loved to have been sit- ting here when ..” Before he'd finished the sentence, he was interrupted by Christopher Hillis who said [puts on a pris disapproving voice]: "Tean tell you one thing, you wouldn't have been sitting here at all. Ronnie’ ~ he always called Ronald Knox ‘Ronnie’ ~ ‘only took boys who'd been at Downside, Ampleforth or Eton. The others were sent to churchesin the town:'This so-called Catholic whats the word ‘Catholic’ mean? That's extraordinary” The book ends somewhat unexpectedly with a vist to Tolstoy’ grave and the word “Finis’, which made me wonder if another instalment might be forthooming “I ean envis- ‘age another book that wouldn't be like this ook —it would be more anecdotal, about the people I've known since I was 35." ‘Memorialising people is a very important partofthis book. tsa form of requiem, isn't it? When I was writing the first draft it was really a sort of requiem for my mother and father. And similarly, if T did write another, itwould bea kind of requiem for my friends” An intermittent diarist, at about the time his marriage filed, he destroyed everything about that and earlier portions of his life, and Task if he has any regrets about this. “Only afew items, otherwise no. I think its great ‘thing in life both literally and metaphorically ‘to have an auto-ca-féfrom time to time and just - burn everything” ‘That seems a fitting note to end on. Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises by AN, Wilson is published by Bloomsbury at £20 (Tablet price, £18). Suzi Feay isa writer, broadcaster, editor and tic. Please help The Tablet grow ee religious sister, The Tablet has been my re Iycekly companion, ensuring that my perspective on the life not only eerie ‘our world in gene challenging, one t eee ee Caner rg The Congregation pore where th picture! Pee eta) Reece rend ernest ‘my now nearly el Seat Rey Seer ery Never more has this been Seer erence Ceti ene eis. AT ae, This year, we invited some high-profile readers and friends to reflect on “What The Tablet means to me". The response has been a reminder of how much The Tablet is loved and appreciated, and we hope their enthusiasm will Inspire you to contribute to our development fund, which makes possible initiatives such as internships and improving access to our 182-year-old archive of back issues. PEER CO ek Ee Cech ua ut eee) eerie Peet levelopmentfund and f the form be c Pere: See Cana Ese sande formation abou pt ating my dost and/or sting up arena et ‘encose2 cheque pajbies The Table Trust evopmercrund [] £150 [] e10 [] 0 Loner arouro help Te Tate each more esd toughout eo “The Tablet Pub Compa ig WEDS. & O20S7S6 Sate y mtneai cok mm Mebletsehtercouk ‘The Taber Trusts egstered cantyNo: 17392 | To eve ou pray ply lease wwNcheblecouMoteNpay pay J For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit wwwthetablet.co.uk: 2 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THETABLET | 13 WORD FROM Ata slight angle to the universe YOUGHALISAN uncelcratedseasidetown in the neglected east end of county Cork, between toney Ballyeotton and Ardmore. A bypass means it no longer has to sufer the humiliation of watching tourists hurrying through its main street on their way tothe farmers’ markets and glamping pods of the Allan coast. The legendary journalist Claud Cockburn was brought here in 1947 by his wife Patricia, ‘who was raised in the town and longed to return, It tumed out Youghal - “standing at a slight ange to the universe” ~ suited him, Cockbum had edited ascuriloushandsheet™ called The Week: in the 1990s lke "Privat Eye in avery bad mood”, an interviewer once suggested to im), and i Youghal he turned to writing novels and columns for The Irish Times and ater Private Eye ite Patrick Marnham, then workingat the Eye, tells us of his visits to Cockburn at Brook Lodge, a tumbledown, roomy hideout where hie and Patricia brought up their boys. “I remember that his copy, which sometimes _nvived in grubby airmail envelopes, as imar- THE CLOT laryathetabletcouk ably late, He explained these setbacks by an ingenious series of calamities ~ local strikes, postman drunk again, astounding electrical storms, outbreak of cholera ~ none of which mysteriously ever reached the newspapers. He frequently had to phone his piece in from call box, reverse charges, because his tele- phone bill had not been paid. He was always charmingly unfazed by these routines.” ‘Cockburn (I don't see why disbelief should bea barrier to religious bigotry’) attended (Chureh of Ireland services with Patricia. When death was not far offhe asked a Catholie priest iffhe might be able to officiate at his funeral. ‘That was beyond wangling. Youghal’s enor- ‘mous medieval church was packed for his funeral, and he was buried in its shadow. Patrick, one of his three journalist sons,

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